The Conversation -- August 11, 2025

Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump announced Monday that he would place the D.C. ... police under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington to fight crime and clear the city of its homeless population, an extraordinary flex of federal power that could expose residents of the nation’s capital to unpredictable encounters with a domestically-deployed military force. The decision to deploy troops comes as the president has been slamming America’s cities as places where crime is out of control, despite two years of declines that have brought homicide levels in many major cities to their lowest levels in decades. The administration has already mobilized FBI agents in recent days in overnight shifts to help local law enforcement prevent carjackings and violent crime in the city, officials said. Because the District of Columbia is not a state, the federal government has unusually sweeping powers to intervene over the objections of its residents and leaders, giving the president an opportunity to use it as a laboratory for a militarized approach to urban crime-fighting....

“In addition to the FBI, the Secret Service and the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division have also been directed to launch special patrols in Washington, according to a White House official.... But the administration has not consulted with the D.C. police department — the chief law enforcement agency responsible for policing local crime — about how best to deploy federal resources, said a senior official....”

~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging some sort of press conference thing Trump is heading up with the usual suspects as supporting cast members. MB Update: As it often is, the liveblog is amusing what with Trump being such a dunderhead & lying SOS.

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “A federal judge in New York denied the Justice Department’s request to release grand jury transcripts from the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned associate, Ghislaine Maxwell on Monday. The ruling cited that the circumstances of the case do not merit breaking the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. The Justice Department has asked three federal judges who oversaw parts of the Epstein and Maxwell cases to release grand jury transcripts amid the public furor over the Trump administration’s decision this year not to release any more information from the Epstein files. So far the requests, two in New York and one in Florida, have not yielded the release of any transcripts. A judge in Florida has already rejected the request, and another request to a judge in New York, who is overseeing Epstein’s legal proceedings, is pending.”

Colombia. Genevieve Glatsky & Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: “Miguel Uribe, the Colombian senator and presidential hopeful who was shot in the head at a campaign event two months ago in an attack that shocked the nation, has died at 39, according to a statement posted by his wife. Mr. Uribe had spent nine weeks in the hospital after the shooting in Bogotá, undergoing multiple surgeries before succumbing to his injuries. The hospital had announced in a statement this weekend that Mr. Uribe’s condition had worsened and that he was experiencing bleeding in the brain.... Mr. Uribe’s mother, Diana Turbay, a prominent journalist and daughter of a former president, was killed in 1991, when Mr. Uribe was a child, after being kidnapped by a drug cartel. The senator’s shooting in June, captured on video, had both divided the nation over how to address violence in the country and united people of disparate political backgrounds around a shared tragedy.... It is still not clear who masterminded the assassination or why.”

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TrumpenGestapo. Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “The Trump administration plans to temporarily reassign 120 F.B.I. agents in Washington to nighttime patrol duties as part of ... [Donald] Trump’s crackdown on the city’s street crime.... Mr. Trump has said that crime in Washington is spiraling out of control. While statistics show that violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year and is down another 26 percent so far this year, youth crime has been a persistent problem for city officials.... The bureau’s agents are investigators not trained in patrol-focused policing.” ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: “Trump on Sunday compared forthcoming action against D.C. crime to his administration’s aggressive crackdown against illegal immigration at the southern border, saying that he plans to 'immediately clear out the city’s homeless population and take swift action against crime.' 'Be prepared! There will be no “MR. NICE GUY.” We want our Capital BACK,' Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media platform.'... In recent days, the administration has authorized up to 120 agents, largely from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, to work overnight shifts for at least one week alongside D.C. police and other federal law enforcement officers in the nation’s capital....” The AP report is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Since the FBI doesn't have uniforms, I'll assume that these agents will be wearing plainclothes on their "temporary" assignments. That is, they'll essentially be secret police. Since they don't know how to do the job, they're almost certain to violate people's rights -- and to put themselves in harm's way. Plus, some may inadvertently endanger the real police officers they're working with. All to satisfy one of Trump's prejudices. ~~~

~~~ Robert Mackey of the Guardian puts his finger on what's really going on here: “Trump orders homeless he passed en route to golf course to leave Washington DC.... 'The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday morning, shortly after being driven from the White House to his golf club in Virginia. 'We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.' The post was illustrated with four photographs, all apparently taken from the president’s motorcade along the route from the White House to his golf course. Two of the images showed a total of 10 tents pitched on the grass along a highway on-ramp just over a mile from the White House. The third image showed a single person sleeping on the steps of the American Institute of Pharmacy Building on Constitution Avenue. The fourth image showed the line of vehicles that whisk Trump to his golf course passing a small amount of roadside litter on the E Street Expressway, near the Kennedy Center.... Earlier this week, Trump ordered a surge of federal officers from a variety of agencies to increase patrols in Washington DC, pointing to the assault on a young federal worker [-- MB: that would be Big Balls --] who came to Washington to work with Elon Musk as evidence that the city’s police force was failing to combat violent crime. Washington DC police, however, had stopped the assault Trump focused attention on, and arrested two 15-year-old suspects at the scene.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Trump doesn't like the homeless messing up his "view." I'd guess this is yet another indicator that Trump can't handle the truth; the truth here being that homelessness is partly a failure of government. Sending the unhoused "FAR from the Capital" solves only one problem: the king's displeasure at the "unsightliness" of his realm. ~~~

~~~ AND it may be about to get worse: ~~~

~~~ Michael Pegram & Thayma Sanchez of NBC Washington & the AP: "... Donald Trump is considering deploying up to 1,000 National Guard troops to D.C. and could make the announcement as early as Monday, one defense official and two U.S. officials confirmed on Sunday night.... The number of National Guard members to be assigned is still in flux, officials said, and most of the troops will likely be pulled from the D.C. National Guard. The officials clarified that the decision is not final and no orders have been signed.... The news comes a day after Trump posted on Truth Social that the White House will make an announcement Monday about the plan to combat crime in D.C. 'It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World. It will soon be one of the safest!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter,' Trump said [in a social media post].... White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told NewsNation's Kellie Meyer that D.C. was 'more violent than Baghdad,' NBC News reported.... D.C.'s mayor [Muriel Bowser] pushed back in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, saying that comparing the city 'to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.'" ~~~

~~~ ⭐Steve Vladeck on Substack: “Congress may have the constitutional power to return [Washington, D.C.] to true federal control, but the President can’t do it all by himself.... Later today..., [Donald] Trump is apparently holding a press conference at which he is going to unveil his plan to 'federalize' D.C. in response to completely inflated (if not entirely bogus) claims about violent crime in the nation’s capital.... [With passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973,] most of the real control of day-to-day life for Washingtonians [has belonged] to the democratically accountable local government.... [DC's National] Guard is commanded not by the Mayor..., but by the President. Most significantly, the Home Rule Act gives the President the power to take control of the D.C. Police 'whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.' The authority is limited to no more than 30 days (it’s limited to 48 hours unless the President sends a special notification to the Chair and Ranking Members of the relevant congressional committees explaining why he needs the authority for longer ).... [Still,]  neither the Constitution nor any Act of Congress authorizes the President to 'federalize' D.C. in general, even if, decidedly unlike what is true at this moment, there were a good reason for doing so.” Quite an interesting essay on the history of the relationship between the District & the federal government. Vladeck is a D.C. resident.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “As President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia gets ready to meet with ... [Donald] Trump on Friday in Alaska, Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the U.S. is working to set up a meeting that also includes President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Mr. Vance said on Fox News’s 'Sunday Morning Futures' that he did not think it would be a good idea for Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky to meet before Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Putin on Friday. But he suggested the three leaders could meet and that the U.S. wants to schedule such a meeting.... Mr. Vance said the White House is working on 'scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.'... Mr. Trump plans to meet with Mr. Putin in Alaska without the Ukrainians there, barring any last-minute invitation.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: “Scheduling and things like that?” JayDee doesn't seem to have a rudimentary knowledge of what he's talking about. Scheduling is not the main issue. ~~~

~~~ Marc Santora of the New York Times: “... Ukraine’s sidelined leaders warned that the Kremlin would try to 'deceive America' as Mr. Trump pushed to end the war. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is determined to demonstrate that his country is not the obstacle to peace by emphasizing Kyiv’s willingness to accept an unconditional cease-fire, an idea that Russia has rejected. He has cautioned that Mr. Putin will try to drive a wedge between the United States, Ukraine and its European allies by putting forth demands that the Kremlin knows Ukraine cannot accept and then portraying Mr. Zelensky as the barrier to a deal.... European leaders and diplomats joined Kyiv in trying to frame the upcoming discussions in Alaska as a 'test'  for Russia, which has shown little sign that it is willing to pull back in its pummeling of Ukraine. 'On Friday, it is important to see how serious Putin is, and the only one who can do that is President Trump,' the NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, told CBS News on Sunday. In their public comments, Ukrainian and European officials ... have been careful in choosing their words, hoping not to offend Mr. Trump while at the same time attempting to shift the conversation back to the need for a complete cease-fire.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yup. When Rutte says Trump is the only one who can gauge Putin's sincerity, he's not exaclty wrong because Trump will be the only other guy in the room (except for Putin's people). But it's pretty easy to "deceive" a person who wants to be deceived, and Trump is ever-ready to give it all up for Putin. 

Tripp Mickle of the New York Times: “Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to pay the United States 15 percent of the money they take in from selling artificial intelligence chips to China, as part of a highly unusual financial agreement with the Trump administration.... On Wednesday, Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, met with ... [Donald] Trump at the White House and agreed to give the federal government its 15 percent cut, essentially making the federal government a partner in Nvidia’s business in China, said the people familiar with the deal. The Commerce Department began granting licenses for A.I. chip sales two days later, these people said.... There are few precedents for the Commerce Department agreeing to grant licenses for exports in exchange for a share of revenue. But the unorthodox payments are consistent with Mr. Trump’s increasingly interventionist role in international business deals involving American companies.” An Axios item is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be damned if I see how taking a cut of a company's sales of its product is encouraging U.S. manufacturing. It seems to me AI chips could be made in many countries, and adding this extra burden, in perpetuity, is a disincentive to build product in the U.S. 

Paul Krugman writes a useful -- and amusing -- post on "the political economy of incompetence." It's clear this principle can be -- and has been -- applied across the board. Look at all the people who gain from Trump's incompetence, for instance. But Krugman concentrates on wholly incompetent economist Stephen Moore who put on an error-ridden dog-and-pony show with Trump last week. Also, Trump called Krugman a "Deranged BUM" last night, which Krugman is proudly adding to his CV. 

Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: “Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker slammed ... Donald Trump as a 'cheater' and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a 'joke' days after welcoming Texas Democrats who fled their state in protest of GOP-led redistricting efforts. 'Governor Abbott is the joke,' Pritzker, a Democrat, told NBC News’ 'Meet the Press' in an interview that aired Sunday in response to Abbott calling Illinois’ congressional map a 'joke.' 'He's the one who is attempting mid-decade here — at a time when, frankly, all of us are concerned about the future of democracy. He's literally helping whittle it away and licking the boots of his leader, Donald Trump,' Pritzker added.... He went on to say, 'This is — it's cheating. Donald Trump is a cheater. He cheats on his wives, he cheats at golf, and now he's trying to cheat the American people out of their votes.'”

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Ephrat Livni of the New York Times: “An Israeli strike near a hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night killed four Al Jazeera journalists, the network said, and Gazan health officials reported at least one additional fatality. The Israeli military confirmed that it had conducted a strike targeting one of the men killed, whom it accused of being a Hamas fighter posing as a reporter, an allegation that he and the network had rejected. The Government Media Office in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, said in a statement that a strike on a 'journalists’ tent near Al-Shifa Hospital' killed two reporters — Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqeh — and three photographers — Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal — and called the attack 'deliberate and premeditated.'” The Al Jazeera story is here.

Victoria Kim of the New York Times: “Australia said it would recognize Palestine statehood during the United Nations General Assembly’s annual session in September — echoing similar announcements by France, Britain and Canada, and adding to international pressure on Israel to bring the war in Gaza to a negotiated end. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia said on Monday that the move was 'part of a coordinated global effort building momentum for a two-state solution.' He said Australia’s recognition would be 'predicated' on 'detailed and significant' commitments he had received from the Palestinian Authority’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to demilitarize, hold general elections and ensure that Hamas plays no role in a future Palestinian state.” The Australian Broadcasting Network story is here.

Joe Stanley-Smith of Politico: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday poured scorn on plans by some European countries to recognize the state of Palestine. France and the United Kingdom, along with Canada, announced in recent weeks plans to formally recognize Palestine, while Norway, Spain and Ireland formally recognized Palestine in 2024. Netanyahu dismissed the idea as a 'canard' during a press conference in which he doubled down on his controversial plan to take over the whole of Gaza.” MB: You know, Bibi, a lot of people take a much different view of what constitutes “shameful” -- causing children to starve, for instance. Murdering journalists, for another.

Isabel Kershner & Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel defended on Sunday his government’s plan to launch a renewed offensive against Hamas in parts of Gaza, following a wave of international condemnation from traditional allies and critics at home. The Israeli military was preparing to expand its campaign to central Gaza as well as Gaza City, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in those areas, hoping they would be safer. Mr. Netanyahu’s proposal has drawn fierce criticism from the families of Israeli hostages, who fear their loved ones will be killed in the Israeli assault. The country’s leaders also overruled the objections of Israeli military leaders, who had raised concerns over the exhaustion among their soldiers.” The link appears to be a gift link. It's worth reading on to see some of the reactions to Netanyahu's plans.