ICYMI: Trump is gutting police and public safety funding in California
What you need to know: Donald Trump is raiding public safety funds to bankroll his militarized birthday party this Saturday, while stripping local police departments, first responders, and communities across the country of the tools they need to keep Americans safe.
Los Angeles, California – Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has prioritized pardoning individuals convicted of assaulting police, is gutting public safety funding — slashing billions from programs that help police departments, fight terrorism, prevent gun violence, and protect women and children from domestic violence — all while he adds to the nation’s debt to pay for militarizing Los Angeles and his ego-driven birthday party this Saturday.
Trump doesn’t respect the rule of law and taxpayers. He uses our members of the military — our heroes — as his own chess pieces and he’s stacking the deck against our own state and local law enforcement. We’ve had enough.
Governor Gavin Newsom
Trump is defunding public safety
President Trump is proposing to gut public safety funding across the country — putting the safety and lives of all Americans at risk.
At a time when violent crime is dropping, Trump’s so-called “big beautiful bill” threatens to erase substantial progress on public safety, at a time when exactly the opposite is needed.
The President’s proposed funding cuts include:
- $1 billion from police departments to reduce violent crime, hate crime, and crime against women.
- $646 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for violence and terrorism prevention.
- $545 million from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), cutting its workforce by more than 2,000 personnel and reducing its capacity to keep criminals off the street.
- $491 million from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), making our cyber and physical infrastructure more vulnerable to attack.
- $468 million from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), greatly reducing its ability to crack down on firearm trafficking and reduce gun violence.
- $212 million from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), greatly reducing its capacity to help state and local law enforcement and weakening efforts to fight international drug smuggling impacting the United States.
- $107 million from Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Public Safety and Justice, exacerbating current understaffing and making tribal communities less safe.
$134 million reasons why this is wrong
As the federal government adds to the open deficit tab, taxpayers are footing the $134 million militarization display in Los Angeles where Trump illegally took control over state National Guard units. Trump federalized 4,000 National Guard soldiers and deployed 700 Marines to use as pawns in Los Angeles.
Even as tensions rise in the Middle East, in an unprecedented move, there are now more American troops deployed in Los Angeles than in Iraq and Syria combined.
Trump is adding to the national debt
Trump’s budget proposal would push the country further into debt. Although he proposes cutting public safety funding, he proposes even more massive tax cuts for the wealthy, pushing the federal government further into the red. According to the Congressional Budget Office, his proposal would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit, before even considering interest costs.
Birthday display
And, in a scene more common in authoritarian dictatorships, Trump is holding a massive $45 million birthday party for himself in Washington, D.C.
Trump’s parade, set to destroy streets in Washington DC due to heavy military vehicles rolling through, including 28 M1A1 tanks, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 Stryker armored fighting vehicles and vehicles towing artillery, is being thrown in the face of Americans reeling from his attempt to militarize Los Angeles.
The festivities will be visible on the ground and in the air – with more than 50 helicopters participating in a large flyover in the nation’s capital. See the Governor’s response to this fete here.
Hypocrisy on full display
In 2020, Trump said he wouldn’t federalize National Guard members without the approval of a state’s Governor first. The head of his own Department of Homeland Security said just last year that federalizing the National Guard would be a direct attack on state rights. But now his administration is adding more National Guard soldiers and Marines to an already charged situation in Los Angeles when they are unneeded. There are 1,600 soldiers waiting for commands at armories in the area.