The president has railed against crime in urban, largely liberal cities for decades, but Monday’s announcement was an extraordinary exertion of federal power over an American city.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” President Trump claimed on Monday, despite falling crime in Washington.
President Trump’s laissez-faire approach is notable, given that the development of the Covid vaccine was seen as one of his first term’s most notable achievements.
President Trump’s willingness to give the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the space to impose his views leaves room for Mr. Trump to position himself with the portion of his base that has grown deeply skeptical about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.