President Donald Trump ramped up his sustained attacks against Democratic mayors on Wednesday night by moving to cut federal funding from their cities, stating that he “will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones.”
In his official White House memo on “Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities,” Trump laid out a laundry list of grievances against Seattle, Portland, New York City, and D.C. that largely echoed the accusations he’s constantly levied against the mayors of those cities.
“My Administration will do everything in its power to prevent weak mayors and lawless cities from taking Federal dollars while they let anarchists harm people, burn buildings, and ruin lives and businesses. We’re putting them on notice today,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday night, tagging the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought in the tweet.
For weeks, the President has been attacking “Democrat-run” cities, accusing their mayors of allowing rampant crime amid peaceful anti-police brutality protests that have turned violent as police clash with demonstrators. Trump has thrown his support behind the police and attempted to paint Black Lives Matter protesters as violent anarchists.
However, it’s unclear whether a blatantly partisan effort to yank federal funding from those cities would pass legal muster.
