Trump aims at US aid to ‘lawless’ cities

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ordering a review of funding of cities run by Democrats that have been epicenters of a wave of protests demanding racial justice, saying socalled “anarchist jurisdictions” should be disfavored for federal money.

Trump signed a memorandum Wednesday aimed specifically at New York; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and Washington, D.C., but including steps that could affect other U.S. cities. The document calls on the White House Office of Management and Budget to detail within two weeks how all federal agencies will submit reports detailing funding to those four cities.

“It is imperative that the federal government review the use of federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence and destruction in America’s cities,” according to the memo, which was reported earlier by the New York Post.

While both preliminary and possibly symbolic, the memo comes as Trump looks to shift attention from the coronavirus pandemic and economic woes by framing the fall election on protests, particularly those that have turned violent.

“For the past few months, several state and local governments have contributed to the violence and destruction in their jurisdictions by failing to enforce the law, disempowering and significantly defunding their police departments, and refusing to accept offers of federal law enforcement assistance,” Trump said in the memo.

The memo instructs Attorney General William Barr to publish, within 14 days, a list of “anarchist jurisdictions” that have “permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract these criminal activities.”

The memo also gives OMB Director Russ Vought 30 days to issue guidance to agencies on penalizing cities in the awarding of grants.

Bill Neidhardt, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, said on Twitter: “As much as Donald Trump wants New York City to drop dead, we will never let this stand. This has nothing to do with ‘law and order.’ This is a racist campaign stunt out of the Oval Office to attack millions of people of color.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday evening that the president’s letter was “another attempt to kill New York City,” where the president was long a resident and developer before officially moving to Florida last year. “Everything that he could possibly do in his power to hurt New York City, he has done,” Cuomo said, adding: “The best thing he did for New York City was leave. Good riddance. Let him go to Florida. Be careful not to get COVID.”

Information from The New York Times was included in this story.