Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcasts
The Glenn Beck ProgramThe Glenn Beck PodcastThe Beck Story
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2024-05-21

May 21, 2024
Chris Brady

TOP OF HOUR 2
GUEST: Jason Whitlock
TOPIC: Rapper Diddy is an embodiment of the nihilistic culture he tried to normalize.

TOP OF HOUR 3
GUEST: Dr. John Bruchalski
TOPIC: The current state of the pro-life movement.


Luke 10:18-20

Luke 10:18-20

News...

How Biden is winning over corporate America behind closed doors
In public, President Biden and corporate America appear to oppose each other’s interests and blame each other for the economy’s problems. In private, the president and the business community have been ramping up collaboration, especially on infrastructure goals.

NY Times: FBI Shed Informants Linked to Russian Influence Operations
The FBI conducted a review in 2020 and 2021 that led to the termination of several informants and warnings about dozens more, over concerns they were connected to Russian disinformation efforts targeting U.S. politics and the Biden family.

Meet The College Student Whose Life Was Destroyed By A Hate Crime Hoax
Hate crime hoaxes, like the type perpetrated against Morgan, have become an all-too-common part of American life.

Elvis Presley’s Graceland set to be auctioned on Thursday amid foreclosure
Lisa Marie Presley allegedly took out a $3.8M loan in 2018, using Graceland as collateral. However, Elvis' granddaughter Riley Keough alleges that her mother's signatures on the deed are forgeries and it's a "fraudulent" sale.

Stop signs replace traffic lights at busy Oakland intersection after homeless steal copper wiring
As a result of the theft, the lights malfunctioned for months, often blinking red or blacking out entirely.

Judge reopens Paul Pelosi attacker sentencing after making 'clear error'
A federal judge reopened the sentencing saying the attacker was not given the opportunity to speak before he was sentenced last week.

Woman fires 8 gunshots at McDonald's employees for missing hash browns and biscuits, police say
"She was hopping from the first drive-thru window to the second window, banging, talking, yelling," an employee recalled. She said the woman challenged them to come out and fight her. Then the shots rang out.

Blaze News...

Bedford: The slow death of DC Democrats’ Jan. 6 politics
This is bad news for Biden and Co. J6 was the plan. That’s what he’s been talking about, and no one cares. He's down in the polls, and the election is coming quick. Best think fast.

Steve Baker: My case has taken a new turn — and we’re filing an appeal
The government says that travel to Washington, D.C., is not a right and that I directed “threatening statements” at a public official on January 6. Not true.

Mike Lee: Biden’s capital gains tax plan is theft, pure and simple
The president’s proposed tax hikes are a thinly veiled attempt to finance an ever-growing bureaucratic behemoth at the expense of the productive sector of the economy.

Blaze News original: Will staged, mishandled evidence in Trump classified docs case lead to dismissal?
"It's deeply ironic that Jack Smith's team is struggling to properly handle classified information when they want to indict President Trump for mishandling classified information."

Align: Does Donald Trump Really Hate Music?
About 4% of people suffer from a disorder called "amusia," which keeps them from recognizing and perceiving melodies and rhythms. As a result, they have no emotional or spiritual connection to music. What does it mean when a person doesn't like music?

Banana Republic...

The Only Discernible Crime In Trump Trial Is Michael Cohen Admitting To Stealing $30,000
Cohen’s admission is “more serious of a crime than falsifying business records,” CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig said.

Turley: Trump trial in tatters after Michael Cohen’s ‘otherworldly’ testimony
It was not the first time that prosecutors looked the other way as Cohen admitted to major criminal conduct: In a prior hearing, Cohen admitted under oath that he lied in a previous case where he pleaded guilty to lying.

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Comes Up With Excuse For Why Cohen Stole From Trump Organization
“It sounded like Michael Cohen doing the little that he could within that calculation to rebalance the bonus he thought he deserved and it still came out as less than the bonus he thought he deserved and the bonus he’d gotten the year before.”

Fani Willis suggests creation of Georgia prosecutorial oversight panel is racially motivated
“Georgia had never had a prosecutorial oversight committee,” Willis told Rachel Maddow. “All of a sudden, 14 minorities were elected to office to serve as district attorney and now all of a sudden they need an oversight committee."

Politics...

Biden thinks he was vice president during COVID-19 pandemic
“When I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic and what happened was, Barack said to me, ‘Go to Detroit! Help fix it,'” Biden said.

Poll: Approval of Biden's handling of war in Gaza falls to new low
Just 26% of Americans approve of President Biden's approach to Gaza. No other issue — not inflation, not immigration — tests as poorly for the president at this point.

Biden’s divisive, defeatist HBCU speech proves he has nothing to offer black voters
Joe is a one-trick pony, and that trick is pandering, hard, to the far left.

White House Denies Biden Used Drugs Before SOTU
Republicans in recent days have called for Biden to submit to a drug test ahead of a debate with Trump, often citing the president’s “surreal” SOTU address.

Trump hints Ken Paxton could have a powerful spot in his Cabinet
On Sunday, Trump was asked if he would consider Paxton for U.S. attorney general. “I would, actually. He’s very, very talented. I mean, we have a lot of people that want that one and would be really good at it,” Trump said. “But he’s a very talented guy.”

Rubio Gives Masterclass On Parrying Media Hacks’ Dishonest Election Questions
Rubio showed how to respond when media partisans ask Republicans to prematurely commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

‘You Did The Same Thing’: CNN Host Presses Dem Rep Over Clash With MTG During Oversight Committee Hearing
"But she went after your appearance and then like you went back at her a thousand-fold."

Economy...

Americans are going into debt to buy groceries
Americans have been grappling with higher food costs since 2021. To get relief, some are turning to credit cards, buy-now, pay-later programs, or payday loans.

Target to cut prices on 5,000 products in bid to lure cash-strapped customers
Target, which is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, in March reported a 1.7% drop in sales for 2023 — its first annual decline in seven years.

Wendy’s will offer $3 breakfast deal, as rivals such as McDonald’s test value meals to drive sales
The deals come as restaurants struggle to win over consumers as diners, particularly those with lower incomes, pull back on spending.

How Red Lobster’s misguided endless-shrimp promotion drove it into bankruptcy
Red Lobster’s latest major shareholder, Thai Union, a Bangkok-based seafood company, saw the promotion as a way to sell off the mountains of shrimp it was catching and turned it into an everyday item.

UAW’s loss in Alabama is good news for autoworkers
Last Friday, workers at a Mercedes-Benz vehicle factory in Alabama voted by a 55%-45% margin in favor of free market capitalism and against big unions.

Israel...

Netanyahu blasts ICC prosecutor for seeking arrest warrants against him and another Israeli official
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, a Muslim, has alleged that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the two Israeli officials "bear criminal responsibility for ... war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders are a call to destroy the Jewish state
The court’s announcement will unleash new waves of anti-Semitism, embolden Hamas (which is surely having a good laugh at the idea of “arrest warrants”), prolong the war, and cost more lives.

What Army Is The ICC Sending To Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu?
There is no such thing as "international law."

Gaza Pier Shut Down Temporarily After Aid Pillaged
A U.N. official told Reuters that the U.N. has not received any aid for the past two days from the U.S.-built pier in Gaza following a major pillaging incident Saturday.

‘Bring the intifada home’: Far-left groups plan next phase of protests in the US
"We have nothing to gain by working with government, cops, or the administration. We do not negotiate."

Iran...

Why the Biden admin decided to honor the legacy of a man nicknamed 'The Butcher of Tehran'
There are 90 million people in Iran suffering under the weight of the barbarian mullahs. Imagine how these poor souls are feeling after witnessing that the country that is supposed to, at a bare minimum, stand for unalienable freedoms, is instead excusing the actions of their captors?

UN holds moment of silence for ‘Butcher of Tehran’
At the request of Russia, China, and Algeria, representatives — including United States Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood — stood at the U.N. Security Council for a minute to honor Raisi.

Iran sought US help with president crash
The crash came after the Biden administration and Iran held their latest quiet talks in Oman aimed at increasing stability following open clashes between Iran and Israel.

Fireworks and dancing as Iranians defiantly celebrate Raisi’s death
Jubilant scenes posted online while regime broadcasts footage of mourning after president killed in helicopter crash.

Ukraine-Russia...

Zelenskiy pushes allies to step up aid and involvement in war
"Everyone is scared of escalation. Everyone has gotten used to the fact that Ukrainians are dying – that's not escalation for people." He proposed that the armed forces of neighboring NATO countries could intercept incoming Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory to help Kyiv protect itself.

Ukraine ups pressure on US to allow strikes in Russia
“It’s crazy. Military people, like generals, they don’t understand.”

China...

Mayorkas’ daughter is on ‘national security threat’ TikTok
After offering explanations for why TikTok presents a danger to U.S. security, Mayorkas admitted that his college-aged daughter uses the app.

Calls for a federal investigation into online Chinese retailers Temu and Shein
The companies are accused of skirting U.S. trade and public safety regulations; use of slave labor; and advertising targeting children, low-income families, and older Americans.

Entertainment...

Amber Rose surprises fans with Instagram post going all in on Trump 2024
“Y’all think Biden cares about black ppl??? Sad. Do ur research. I did. I’ll ALWAYS put women first. Y’all want biological men in women’s sports. Trump supports the most reasonable compromise on abortion. Stop being brainwashed cuz WE’RE ppl of color. Make your own decisions."

WaPo: Controversial Donald Trump movie ‘The Apprentice’ depicts him as rapist
A dark new biopic starring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump is the talk of Cannes.

Disney+ 'X-Men' show has 'nonbinary' character turn into woman and confess his love for Wolverine
I should have warned you that the title is a spoiler alert. Now I ruined the series for you, sorry.

Media...

NBC News, New York Times Replay Russia Hoax For 2024 Election
The media plan is to spend the rest of the year framing opposition to Democrats as the result of Russian disinformation, even though it’s a lie.

The New York Times Is Only Interested In One President’s Tax Returns
It seems that what corporate media chooses not to report matters more than what it says explicitly.

LGBTQIA2S+...

Celebrated transgender inmate charged with raping female months before judge tossed related suit
Plaintiffs can't cite past rapes alone to justify an injunction, Biden appointee rules.

Supreme Court Justice Alito sold Bud Light stock, then bought Coors during boycott
Alito sold between $1,000 and $15,000 of AB InBev’s stock and bought Molson Coors in the same price range on the same day, according to a financial disclosure filing for the justice.

Crowd boos as boy wins girls' state championship track and field race in Oregon
He also took home silver in the 400M girls' sprint.

AI...

The ‘dead internet theory’ makes eerie claims about an AI-run web. The truth is more sinister.
The dead internet theory claims that most activity and content on the internet are predominantly being created and automated by AI agents, which creates a vicious cycle of artificial engagement, one that has no clear agenda and no longer involves humans at all.

We'll need universal basic income — AI 'godfather'
He said while he felt AI would increase productivity and wealth, the money would go to the rich “and not the people whose jobs get lost and that’s going to be very bad for society.”

AI's Cozy Crony Capitalism
Regulating artificial intelligence presents a "Baptists and bootleggers" problem.

Scarlett Johansson says she is 'shocked, angered' over new ChatGPT voice
After OpenAI held a live demonstration of the voice last week, many observers compared it to Johansson's voice in the 2013 film "Her," which centers on a man who falls in love with the female voice of his computer's operating system.

Sports...

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder calls Harrison Butker 'f***ing p***y' over star kicker's anti-woke graduation speech
The 59-year-old lead singer of a third-rate '90s grunge band wants you to know he hasn't lost his edge, mannnnnn ...

May 21, 2009 - Glenn recaps his appearance on 'The View'... Stu's 2-minute investigation... Callers... Behind the scenes at 'The View'... California tax-increases ballot fails... California update... List of people who hate Glenn...

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The loneliness epidemic: Are machines replacing human connection?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Seniors, children, and the isolated increasingly rely on machines for conversation, risking real relationships and the emotional depth that only humans provide.

Jill Smola is 75 years old. She’s a retiree from Orlando, Florida, and she spent her life caring for the elderly. She played games, assembled puzzles, and offered company to those who otherwise would have sat alone.

Now, she sits alone herself. Her husband has died. She has a lung condition. She can’t drive. She can’t leave her home. Weeks can pass without human interaction.

Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

But CBS News reports that she has a new companion. And she likes this companion more than her own daughter.

The companion? Artificial intelligence.

She spends five hours a day talking to her AI friend. They play games, do trivia, and just talk. She says she even prefers it to real people.

My first thought was simple: Stop this. We are losing our humanity.

But as I sat with the story, I realized something uncomfortable. Maybe we’ve already lost some of our humanity — not to AI, but to ourselves.

Outsourcing presence

How often do we know the right thing to do yet fail to act? We know we should visit the lonely. We know we should sit with someone in pain. We know what Jesus would do: Notice the forgotten, touch the untouchable, offer time and attention without outsourcing compassion.

Yet how often do we just … talk about it? On the radio, online, in lectures, in posts. We pontificate, and then we retreat.

I asked myself: What am I actually doing to close the distance between knowing and doing?

Human connection is messy. It’s inconvenient. It takes patience, humility, and endurance. AI doesn’t challenge you. It doesn’t interrupt your day. It doesn’t ask anything of you. Real people do. Real people make us confront our pride, our discomfort, our loneliness.

We’ve built an economy of convenience. We can have groceries delivered, movies streamed, answers instantly. But friendships — real relationships — are slow, inefficient, unpredictable. They happen in the blank spaces of life that we’ve been trained to ignore.

And now we’re replacing that inefficiency with machines.

AI provides comfort without challenge. It eliminates the risk of real intimacy. It’s an elegant coping mechanism for loneliness, but a poor substitute for life. If we’re not careful, the lonely won’t just be alone — they’ll be alone with an anesthetic, a shadow that never asks for anything, never interrupts, never makes them grow.

Reclaiming our humanity

We need to reclaim our humanity. Presence matters. Not theory. Not outrage. Action.

It starts small. Pull up a chair for someone who eats alone. Call a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in months. Visit a nursing home once a month — then once a week. Ask their names, hear their stories. Teach your children how to be present, to sit with someone in grief, without rushing to fix it.

Turn phones off at dinner. Make Sunday afternoons human time. Listen. Ask questions. Don’t post about it afterward. Make the act itself sacred.

Humility is central. We prefer machines because we can control them. Real people are inconvenient. They interrupt our narratives. They demand patience, forgiveness, and endurance. They make us confront ourselves.

A friend will challenge your self-image. A chatbot won’t.

Our homes are quieter. Our streets are emptier. Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

Before we worry about how AI will reshape humanity, we must first practice humanity. It can start with 15 minutes a day of undivided attention, presence, and listening.

Change usually comes when pain finally wins. Let’s not wait for that. Let’s start now. Because real connection restores faster than any machine ever will.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Exposed: The radical Left's bloody rampage against America

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

For years, the media warned of right-wing terror. But the bullets, bombs, and body bags are piling up on the left — with support from Democrat leaders and voters.

For decades, the media and federal agencies have warned Americans that the greatest threat to our homeland is the political right — gun-owning veterans, conservative Christians, anyone who ever voted for President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden once declared that white supremacy is “the single most dangerous terrorist threat” in the nation.

Since Trump’s re-election, the rhetoric has only escalated. Outlets like the Washington Post and the Guardian warned that his second term would trigger a wave of far-right violence.

As Democrats bleed working-class voters and lose control of their base, they’re not moderating. They’re radicalizing.

They were wrong.

The real domestic threat isn’t coming from MAGA grandmas or rifle-toting red-staters. It’s coming from the radical left — the anarchists, the Marxists, the pro-Palestinian militants, and the anti-American agitators who have declared war on law enforcement, elected officials, and civil society.

Willful blindness

On July 4, a group of black-clad terrorists ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Alvarado, Texas. They hurled fireworks at the building, spray-painted graffiti, and then opened fire on responding law enforcement, shooting a local officer in the neck. Journalist Andy Ngo has linked the attackers to an Antifa cell in the Dallas area.

Authorities have so far charged 14 people in the plot and recovered AR-style rifles, body armor, Kevlar vests, helmets, tactical gloves, and radios. According to the Department of Justice, this was a “planned ambush with intent to kill.”

And it wasn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a growing pattern of continuous violent left-wing incidents since December last year.

Monthly attacks

Most notably, in December 2024, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Mangione reportedly left a manifesto raging against the American health care system and was glorified by some on social media as a kind of modern Robin Hood.

One Emerson College poll found that 41% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 said the murder was “acceptable” or “somewhat acceptable.”

The next month, a man carrying Molotov cocktails was arrested near the U.S. Capitol. He allegedly planned to assassinate Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

In February, the “Tesla Takedown” attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships started picking up traction.

In March, a self-described “queer scientist” was arrested after allegedly firebombing the Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Graffiti on the burned building read “ICE = KKK.”

In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-Pa.) official residence was firebombed on Passover night. The suspect allegedly set the governor’s mansion on fire because of what Shapiro, who is Jewish, “wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

In May, two young Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Witnesses said the shooter shouted “Free Palestine” as he was being arrested. The suspect told police he acted “for Gaza” and was reportedly linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

In June, an Egyptian national who had entered the U.S. illegally allegedly threw a firebomb at a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado. Eight people were hospitalized, and an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor later died from her injuries.

That same month, a pro-Palestinian rioter in New York was arrested for allegedly setting fire to 11 police vehicles. In Los Angeles, anti-ICE rioters smashed cars, set fires, and hurled rocks at law enforcement. House Democrats refused to condemn the violence.

Barbara Davidson / Contributor | Getty Images

In Portland, Oregon, rioters tried to burn down another ICE facility and assaulted police officers before being dispersed with tear gas. Graffiti left behind read: “Kill your masters.”

On July 7, a Michigan man opened fire on a Customs and Border Protection facility in McAllen, Texas, wounding two police officers and an agent. Border agents returned fire, killing the suspect.

Days later in California, ICE officers conducting a raid on an illegal cannabis farm in Ventura County were attacked by left-wing activists. One protester appeared to fire at federal agents.

This is not a series of isolated incidents. It’s a timeline of escalation. Political assassinations, firebombings, arson, ambushes — all carried out in the name of radical leftist ideology.

Democrats are radicalizing

This isn’t just the work of fringe agitators. It’s being enabled — and in many cases encouraged — by elected Democrats.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz routinely calls ICE “Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attempted to block an ICE operation in her city. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu compared ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson referred to them as “secret police terrorizing our communities.”

Apparently, other Democratic lawmakers, according to Axios, are privately troubled by their own base. One unnamed House Democrat admitted that supporters were urging members to escalate further: “Some of them have suggested what we really need to do is be willing to get shot.” Others were demanding blood in the streets to get the media’s attention.

A study from Rutgers University and the National Contagion Research Institute found that 55% of Americans who identify as “left of center” believe that murdering Donald Trump would be at least “somewhat justified.”

As Democrats bleed working-class voters and lose control of their base, they’re not moderating. They’re radicalizing. They don’t want the chaos to stop. They want to harness it, normalize it, and weaponize it.

The truth is, this isn’t just about ICE. It’s not even about Trump. It’s about whether a republic can survive when one major party decides that our institutions no longer apply.

Truth still matters. Law and order still matter. And if the left refuses to defend them, then we must be the ones who do.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

America's comeback: Trump is crushing crime in the Capitol

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Trump’s DC crackdown is about more than controlling crime — it’s about restoring America’s strength and credibility on the world stage.

Donald Trump on Monday invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to restore law and order. This move is long overdue.

D.C.’s crime problem has been spiraling for years as local authorities and Democratic leadership have abandoned the nation’s capital to the consequences of their own failed policies. The city’s murder rate is about three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-led Havana, Cuba.

When DC is in chaos, it sends a message to the world that America is weak.

Theft, assaults, and carjackings have transformed many of its streets into war zones. D.C. saw a 32% increase in homicides from 2022 to 2023, marking the highest number in two decades and surpassing both New York and Los Angeles. Even if crime rates dropped to 2019 levels, that wouldn’t be good enough.

Local leaders have downplayed the crisis, manipulating crime stats to preserve their image. Felony assault, for example, is no longer considered a “violent crime” in their crime stats. Same with carjacking. But the reality on the streets is different. People in D.C. are living in constant fear.

Trump isn’t waiting for the crime rate to improve on its own. He’s taking action.

Broken windows theory in action

Trump’s takeover of D.C. puts the “broken windows theory” into action — the idea that ignoring minor crimes invites bigger ones. When authorities look the other way on turnstile-jumping or graffiti, they signal that lawbreaking carries no real consequence.

Rudy Giuliani used this approach in the 1990s to clean up New York, cracking down on small offenses before they escalated. Trump is doing the same in the capital, drawing a hard line and declaring enough is enough. Letting crime fester in Washington tells the world that the seat of American power tolerates lawlessness.

What Trump is doing for D.C. isn’t just about law enforcement — it’s about national identity. When D.C. is in chaos, it sends a message to the world that America is weak. The capital city represents the soul of the country. If we can’t even keep our own capital safe, how can we expect anyone to take us seriously?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Reversing the decline

Anyone who has visited D.C. regularly over the past several years has witnessed its rapid decline. Homeless people bathe in the fountains outside Union Station. People are tripping out in Dupont Circle. The left’s negligence is a disgrace, enabling drug use and homelessness to explode on our capital’s streets while depriving these individuals of desperately needed care and help.

Restoring law and order to D.C. is not about politics or scoring points. It’s about doing what’s right for the people. It’s about protecting communities, taking the vulnerable off the streets, and sending the message to both law-abiding and law-breaking citizens alike that the rule of law matters.

D.C. should be a lesson to the rest of America. If we want to take our cities back, we need leadership willing to take bold action. Trump is showing how to do it.

Now, it’s time for other cities to step up and follow his lead. We can restore law and order. We can make our cities something to be proud of again.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.