Jesse Rabinowitz, a advocate for homeless people, called Trump's plan ''fascist'' and a ''waste'' of resources. He said the move wasn't about safety.
''It is about power, and it is about fascism and authoritarianism,'' said Rabinowitz, the campaign and communication director for the National Homelessness Law Center. ''If Donald Trump wanted to keep D.C. safe, he would fund housing and support. Instead, the Republicans just gutted health care, and they're passing through a budget that will make homelessness worse. They do not care about helping people.''
Police statistics show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.
The president has criticized the district as full of ''tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,'' and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.
''This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,'' Trump said Wednesday.