Why has Trump ordered the army onto the streets of DC?

The News Agents

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Tuesday, 12 August 2025 - 37 minutes

“Violent gangs", "bloodthirsty criminals", "roving gangs of wild youths", "drugged out maniacs". These may sounds like scenes from a Charles Dickens novel, but they are the words used by Donald Trump to describe Washington DC, as he announced he was sending the National Guard in to the capital.

As recently as May, President Trump was proclaiming a sharp drop in crime in the city. Indeed, the official statistics suggest DC has made significant improvements in safety in the past couple of years. So why is he declaring a war on crime, and taking such drastic action, when the evidence doesn't back him up?

Later, a dispatch from Lewis in Las Vegas - already hit by a drop in tourism, and now seeing the effects of AI, which has already started to transform the town. Is it a sign of things to come for us all? And, if so, should we be scared?

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