Murphy dismisses Trump's DC crime crackdown as a 'stunt'

Source: The Hill

08/17/25 2:52 PM ET


Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday dismissed President Trump’s recent crackdown on Washington, D.C., as a “stunt.”

“What’s happening here in Washington, D.C., is just a stunt. Donald Trump didn’t like the fact that the walls were closing in on him, that his own base was questioning why he wouldn’t release the Epstein files, why he was protecting very powerful people,” Murphy told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

“He didn’t want to talk anymore about the fact that our health care system is about to collapse because of the cuts that they have made, that premiums are going to go up by 75 percent on Americans,” he added. “And so, true to form, he just decided to create a new news cycle.”

Earlier this week, Trump announced he was taking federal control of D.C.’s police department and deploying the National Guard in the city in an effort to fight crime. Trump’s recent moves in the nation’s capital have drawn heavy blowback from Democrats and reignited calls for statehood for the District, which does not have voting representation in Congress.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5456787-trump-crackdown-dc-stunt/