It's Been a Minute Trump lost the battle. Will he win the "war?"
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Sep 19, 2025 
Abdallah Fayyad, a policy correspondent at Vox, dives into the political maneuvers behind Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard in cities with declining crime rates. He discusses the strong rhetoric and racialized fears fueling this decision, linking it to immigration issues and election optics. The conversation also highlights local resistance to militarized policing, exploring alternative violence-prevention strategies. Fayyad’s insights shed light on the broader implications of such contentious tactics in urban environments.
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Targeting Cities Despite Falling Crime
- Trump targets large, diverse Democratic cities with tough-on-crime rhetoric despite falling crime rates.
- Abdallah Fayyad and Brittany Luse highlight that crime has declined this year in every named city.
Rhetoric Rooted In Racialized Fears
- Trump’s rhetoric often frames diverse, Democratic cities as chaotic and ungovernable to appeal to a certain base.
- Abdallah Fayyad connects this to long-standing racialized attitudes and threats to multicultural democracy.
Deployments Influenced By Local Politics
- Logistics and local politics shape where the administration deploys the National Guard.
- Abdallah Fayyad and Alex V. Hernandez note Republican governors are more welcoming, making deployments easier.