Speaking during a Friday, August 29, interview with the Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese, President Donald Trump explained how well the crackdown on crime is going in the District of Columbia, explaining to her that the massive infusion of National Guard troopers and federal agents has helped the city regain its stability and become a pleasant place to live again.
As background, while the president has suggested sending federal troops and agents to deal with crime in other cities, such as Chicago, DC has been his first target, and is legally the easiest to deal with because it is federal territory rather than a city in a sovereign state, which limits his ability to deal with things.
In any case, he is already declaring partial victory in DC, as the city has been quite helped by the crackdown. Such is what he explained to Reese, telling her that the major crackdown and the slew of resources devoted to it have helped create what amounts to a “crime free zone” across the city.
That conversation came toward the start of the interview, as the Daily Caller provides, with Reese asking, “I think it’s fitting that we start with media bias. The New York Times have recently published a story. They were mad at you for not doing the crackdown correctly. They say you’re not in the correct areas of Washington, D.C. First, the mainstream media was mad at you for doing the crackdown. Now they’re mad at you for not doing it correctly. What’s your response to that?”
Responding, President Trump told her that things are going hugely well now that the crackdown has kicked into full gear, saying, “So it turned out, it was amazing, because we’re a crime free zone now. I mean, you see what’s going on? There’s no crime. People are walking to restaurants. They’re free. It’s almost like we just freed the whole Washington D.C.”
He added that the whole thing worked out far faster than he thought it might and that the troopers involved are real patriots, saying, “[It] Went faster than I thought. I mean, I knew we’re going to do it, but it went faster than I thought. We have tremendous soldiers that go in there and do it, and they’re strong. They love America.”
Further, the president noted that the criminal underclass only appreciates strength, which is what has made the massive show of force across the district such a success. He said, “The Other Side only appreciates strong, you understand, and they’ve done a great job much, probably a little bit quicker, much quicker, in a certain sense, then we thought we’re going to be doing it, but it’s complete. It’s amazing.”
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Still not done, he then noted that even more success will come within a couple weeks, saying, “Now, in two weeks, it’s going to be even better. I’m calling it, it’s a crime free zone now. People are going to restaurants that haven’t gone out in four years. They didn’t even want to go in their car because they get the you know, they have..you see, the carjacking is down 87%.”
Watch Trump comment on the crime in Chicago situation here: