President Trump earlier this week threatened to withhold funding from Democrat-led cities Seattle, Portland, New York City, and Washington, D.C., claiming they have “permitted violence and the destruction of property” by turning a blind eye to riots.
“My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” Trump wrote in a memo to the Attorney General and the White House Budget Director.
It calls on the AG to “identify(ing) anarchist jurisdictions” and have them publicly listed.
Trump followed that up with a tweet vowing his 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.”
Naturally, the mayors of these cities were furious over the move.
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. @RussVought45
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2020
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So Angry, They Might Riot
The mayors of the aforementioned cities wrote a strongly worded letter to the President, stating that they are not his “political pawns.”
“Instead of leadership from the White House,” they wrote, “we are faced with new attacks that are unlawful, unconstitutional and will be undoubtedly defeated in court.”
That’s rich. These are local ‘leaders’ who have abandoned their cities and allowed ‘unlawful’ conduct to foment in the streets.
Like a petulant child, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned, “If you persist in trying to deny the funding that’s keeping New York City going in the middle of this crisis, we will see you in court and once again we will beat you in court.”
The most unhinged threat came from de Blasio’s good buddy, governor Andrew Cuomo. His threat was quite literal.
“He better have an army if he thinks he’s gonna walk down the street in New York,” cautioned Cuomo. “New Yorkers don’t want to have anything to do with him.”
Governor Cuomo, the city you swore to protect is becoming a war zone under your watch.
If @realDonaldTrump needs an army to protect him in NYC…
Just give us the time and date. We’re on the next flight. https://t.co/h5RzRat5B6
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) September 3, 2020
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Where Cuomo and De Blasio Fail, Trump Will Succeed
Watching these pro-Antifa mayors and Cuomo flail with their anger is heart-warming. It’s a sign that the President is doing the right thing.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded to Cuomo’s threat by saying it was a ‘naked’ admission of ‘failure.’
“It’s not often you hear a governor describe in vivid detail how he’s lost control of his state, but there you have Gov. Cuomo saying, ‘You can’t come to New York without an army,'” she chided.
“Well I guess that is the case when you have more than 1,000 shootings before Labor Day, when there’s a 277% increase in shootings in a one month period over the year prior,” McEnany continued.
“It’s very rare you hear a Democrat governor nakedly admit to failure and that’s what Governor Cuomo has just done for us.”
As for de Blasio’s threats to bring Trump to court over this move – it’s well within the power of the Executive branch to refuse to spend money in areas that refuse to follow the law.
In February, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan ruled, according to the New York Times, that the administration “can impose conditions on the release of the money, which comes in the form of grants,” in a case involving withholding millions of dollars from so-called sanctuary cities.
In July, the court declined to rehear the determination with Reuters noting it “seems likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.”
