Taylor Swift on New Heights: 6 things we learned from her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcastNew Foto - Taylor Swift on New Heights: 6 things we learned from her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast

After about two years of dating Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift made the podcast appearance heard 'round the world. The 14-time Grammy Award winner joined the Kansas City Chiefs' tight end on an episode of his "New Heights" podcast with his brother, Jason, and discussed their relationship, her career and her ongoing football education inan hour-plus discussion published Wednesday. More than 1.3 million people were watching concurrently at one point in the episode, in which Swift unveiled the cover art of her new album, "The Life of a Showgirl," which comes out Oct. 3. Taylor Swift unveils the cover art for her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights 🤯(via@newheightshow)pic.twitter.com/ScxodLoOKu — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports)August 13, 2025 The appearance was a long time coming. The relationship's beginnings were documented on the same podcast, which has seen enough crossover attention togarner a nine-figure deal with Amazon's Wondery network. Or as Swift said: "This podcast has done a lot for me. I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend, ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app about two years ago." There was plenty more learned from Wednesday. Most fans will know the Swift-Kelce relationship began with a friendship bracelet, with Kelce publicly saying he was interested and unsuccessfully attempting to offer Swift a friendship bracelet. It turns out Swift was actually quite charmed by his straightforward message of "I WANT TO DATE YOU," but she was less than impressed with the logistical work he put into setting up a meeting: "He didn't even reach out to our management. When this podcast came out, I was like 'Did he ever reach out to be in the tents, or did we know he was in the building?' He came with Pat [Mahomes], and he thought that 'cause he knows the elevator lady, he could talk to her about just getting down there. "That's how it works in 1973. He was really like, 'I know a guy, I can figure this out.'" Kelce didn't get his meeting that day, but it obviously worked out. Swift has been a mainstay at Chiefs games for two seasons now, but she entered the relationship with plenty to learn: "Jason, on our first date, I legitimately asked him what it was like when the Chiefs played the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and he looked across the field across the line of scrimmage and saw his brother standing on the other, like five feet in front of him on the field. "He didn't even look at me. Like, I now know what an insane question that was … I thought everyone was on the field at the same time. I thought it was like Jared Goff is here, and Josh Allen is here, and they blow a whistle, and they go at each other, and they're like, who's going to win?" Taylor Swift on how she thought football was played 😅"I thought it was like Jared Goff is here and Josh Allen's here [on the field at the same time] ... then they blow a whistle and they go at each other." 😂(via@newheightshow)pic.twitter.com/rwx80FHyNN — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)August 14, 2025 We all have to start somewhere, and let's just say Swift has put in the work since then. Less than a year into their relationship, the Chiefs drafted Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy, famed for being the fastest player in the history of the NFL scouting combine. By that time, Swift was excited enough about Kansas City's new weapon that her friends sounded a little worried: "Oh my God, I fell in love with it, I became obsessed with it. I became a person who was running through the halls of my house screaming, 'WE DRAFTED XAVIER WORTHY!' My friends are like, 'Who bodysnatched you? What do you mean we drafted Xavier Worthy?'" TAYLOR SWIFT x XAVIER WORTHYpic.twitter.com/mlcIY58CKB — Pranav Sriraman (@PranavSriraman)August 13, 2025 The education is still a work in progress, but Swift expects to get there: "We're talking about Cover 2, Cover 4, Cover 0 ... I'm not ready to be an analyst right now, but give me 16 months." One of the biggest stories of the music industry in the past year has been Swift's nine-figure deal to reacquire the masters of her first six studio albums from the private equity firm Shamrock Holdings. It was a personal thing for Swift, who said, "I thought about not owning my music every day." When she finally got the call that Shamrock had accepted her offer, she quickly went to tell Kelce: "I just, like, very dramatically hit the floor, for real. I started bawling my eyes out ... I'm like 'Get yourself together, get your s*** together, just go tell Travis in a normal way.' I knock on the door, he's playing video games. I'm trying to say it in a normal way, and I'm just like '... TRAVIS!' He puts his headset down. He's like, 'Guys, gotta go,' and I think he thought something was wrong. "You come up, and I'm just like, 'I got all my music back.' And then just start heaving, dropped, had no power in my legs to support myself." 🎥| Taylor Swift telling the story of her reclaiming her masters during her New Heights episodepic.twitter.com/EA2KOXeTaD — Taylor Swift Edits (@TSwiftEdits_13)August 13, 2025 As far as hobbies go, Swift said all of her hobbies go back to the 1700s — sewing, cooking, painting, baking — with sourdough baking a particular obsession recently. She discussed going through countless sourdough blogs and baking loaf after loaf for Kelce to try. Between those hobbies and her lack of activity on social media, it led to the following sentence: "All I really use the internet for is sourdough and when Travis shows me videos of otters on his Instagram algorithm." Kelce's interest in otters apparently goes well beyond just watching videos: "He wants one specifically whose life he saved, who knows that he saved its life ... He doesn't want to like go up to an otter and take it from its mother. He wants to see an otter, and the otter's like, 'My paws caught in a shell.' And he's like, 'I got you.' And then the otter's like, 'Thank you forever' with its little paws. "We have discussed maybe carrying around cans of sardines just in case we run into one. It's better in principle than it is in practice." On a related note, Swift confirmed she was aware of Kelce's "I just gave a squirle a peice of bread" tweet. The man is an animal lover. We also learned plenty about the impression Jason Kelce has made on Swift, specifically when she asked if he would like to meet the Royal Family with her at the Eras Tour: "I knew you were serious when I went, 'Jason, do you want to go meet them?' I watched him have this moment with his beer where he was just like, 'But I want to take it, but I know that I probably should not take it.' I watched this happen ... 'If I don't have my beer, what do I do with my hand now?'" Kelce said she was correct: "I like that you picked up on it, because that's exactly what was going on in my head." Long story short, Kelce did not bring his beer to meet Prince William and his family.

Taylor Swift on New Heights: 6 things we learned from her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast

Taylor Swift on New Heights: 6 things we learned from her appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast After about two years of dating...
Austin Butler Says an Edible Is to Blame for His Viral Dance Moves at Bad Bunny ConcertNew Foto - Austin Butler Says an Edible Is to Blame for His Viral Dance Moves at Bad Bunny Concert

Austin Butler stars in the upcoming film,Caught Stealing, which features Bad Bunny Butler went viral after he was caught dancing at the Bad Bunny's Puerto Rico residency earlier this month He explained during an appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonthat his dance moves were a result of taking an edible Austin Butlerdidn't expect his dance moves to go viral after attending hisCaught StealingcostarBad Bunny's Puerto Rico residency earlier this month – but now he's revealing where those moves came from. During the Tuesday, Aug. 12, episode ofThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Butler, 33, revealed how he ended up at his costar's concert with an edible in his system. While Bad Bunny (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), 31, explained the run of the show to Butler, he shared that he initially thought he andCaught StealingdirectorDarren Aronofskywere going to be part of the audience and not on a secondary stage. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! Xavier Garcia for Sony Pictures Entertainment) Butler said they ended up in a prop house, where Bad Bunny comes and performs during a certain point in his concert. On top of that, Butler says he was given an edible "right before the show." He initially thought it "was a good idea," but was quickly proven wrong. Even though he is an actor, Butler said he doesn't like attention on him, noting that he doesn't even like people singing "Happy Birthday" to him. "So, suddenly I'm on stage with Bad Bunny and the edible is working," said Butler. "It was wild. So it's like my brain is in two movies. One is like, 'Benito and I had lunch earlier in the day, I'm just like, so proud of him.' " "I'm watching him going like, 'Oh my God, look how much you mean to everyone here.' I'm like, falling in love with Puerto Rican culture and the dancing and everybody is so sexy and amazing," he continued. "And then the other part is of me is like, 'Don't dance, because you'll take attention away from him. This is his moment.' " Lisa Lake/Getty In the viral video, Butler was caught shimmying to the beat of the music with a smile from ear to ear. TheElvisstar wanted to "hide" but said that the music was "so good," causing him to do some dancing — just not enough to take attention away from Bad Bunny. "I ended up just like swaying my hips while crossing my arms," said Butler. https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf "For whatever reason, every time I uncrossed my arms, I felt like I was drawing attention to myself. So I was like, 'This is okay,' " he later added while describing his dance moves. Todd Owyoung/NBC He noted that part of his fear also came from "theBen Affleckthing at the Grammys where people said he wasn't having a good time and so you're like, 'I don't want to be the sad guy,' " he said, referring toAffleck's appearance at the 2023 Grammys with Jennifer Lopez. "But you also don't want to be the guy who's dancing crazy and drawing attention." The clip ended with Fallon sharing that he went through a similar experience when he went to aHarry Stylesconcert. Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Caught Stealingreleases in theaters on Aug. 29. Read the original article onPeople

Austin Butler Says an Edible Is to Blame for His Viral Dance Moves at Bad Bunny Concert

Austin Butler Says an Edible Is to Blame for His Viral Dance Moves at Bad Bunny Concert Austin Butler stars in the upcoming film,Caught Stea...
Dr. Phil Fires Back at His Bankrupt Company's Legal Foes, Accusing TBN and PBR of 'Inflammatory and Damaging' Attacks Aimed at Depressing Value of Merit StreetNew Foto - Dr. Phil Fires Back at His Bankrupt Company's Legal Foes, Accusing TBN and PBR of 'Inflammatory and Damaging' Attacks Aimed at Depressing Value of Merit Street

Dr. Phil says he and his bankrupt company Merit Street Media are being smeared in "incendiary" legal filings by Christian broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network, which is a former business partner, and creditor Professional Bull Riders — and that they are trying to drive down Merit Street's value. And his lawyers invoked a judge's ruling in the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively legal fight ordering the parties to refrain from using "disrespectful" language, saying the same directive should apply in this case. Phil McGraw's Peteski Productions is the proposed debtor-in-possession lender of Merit, whichfiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protectionon July 2. Merit Street also sued TBN, the company's former distribution partner, alleging breach of contract and alleging it "abused its position as the controlling shareholder." More from Variety Dr. Phil Defended ICE Raids in Heated Debate With Bill Maher, but Now He Says: 'I Don't Think I'm Qualified to Talk About Politics' Professional Bull Riders Accuses Dr. Phil of 'Orchestrating' Merit Street Bankruptcy and Forming New Company to Avoid Paying Creditors Dr. Phil's Cable TV Network Files for Bankruptcy and Sues Christian Broadcaster TBN, Its Former Partner In an Aug. 12 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas, Peteski lawyers objected to the motion filed by TBN and related party TCT Ministries to dismiss Merit's Chapter 11 case, convert it to a Chapter 7 liquidation or appoint a Chapter 11 trustee. Peteski also objected to PBR's partial joinder in support of the TBN and TCT motion. The Peteski filing requested the court deny the TBN and PBR motions. "From the outset of this Bankruptcy Case, both [TBN and PBR] entered into a 'press strategy' fueled in large part by incendiary pleadings they knew would be picked up by the media which, predictably, did occur," Peteski's filing says. "The effect of this is to not only insult and denigrate Peteski and Dr. McGraw but also to depress the value of the Debtor." In Trinity's motion to dismiss the case, it called Merit Street's bankruptcy filing a "sham proceeding orchestrated by one man — McGraw" and asserted that the plan was carried out "in the dead of night… designed to allow McGraw to make off like a thief."PBR, in a motion filed last week to compel document production from Merit Street,the TKO Group-owned company said, "All evidence presently suggests that Phillip C. McGraw ('Dr. Phil') orchestrated this Chapter 11 Case to avoid menacing litigation against PBR and jumpstart Envoy Media Co. ('Envoy'), a brand-new media venture he founded the day before Debtor filed this case, with the Debtor's remaining assets free and clear of any legacy encumbrances and obligations he made on the Debtor's behalf." Per Peteski's filing: "The Motion to Dismiss and PBR Joinder are full of inflammatory and damaging assertions of bad faith, improper conduct, and self-dealing that are unfounded, speculative, and unsupported by the record." In a bankruptcy court hearing, Trinity's counsel "falsely stated that Dr. McGraw created 'zero' episodes" for Merit Street out of a contractually obligated 160 90-minute episodes and "pocketed millions of dollars," according to Peteski's filing. "The evidence will show that TBN and Peteski decided to fit 'Dr. Phil Primetime' into a 60-minute time slot despite there being enough footage shot to accommodate the longer time period and, indeed, 'Dr. Phil Primetime' did stream after the initial hour was over." Despite Merit Street's "early financial troubles," from the April 2024 launch of the Merit Network through May 2025, Peteski produced and broadcast new original programing the network including 220 episodes of "Dr. Phil Primetime." Those episodes included interviews with such public figures as President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, per the filing. Trinity Broadcasting, despite "having agreed to pay for this high-quality programming," "defaulted on its obligations and now owes Peteski millions of dollars," according to the filing. Meanwhile, Trinity's counsel also said during the same bankruptcy hearing that McGraw "bragged internally about his 'gangster move' to take over" Merit Street. "The evidence will show that this statement was made by misrepresenting an email [from Dr. Phil] which TBN improperly and illegally accessed off its server which it was hosting for the Debtor as part of its contractually obligated services under the Joint Venture Agreement," according to Peteski's filing. (Dr. Phil's lawyers don't provide context for his "gangster move" comment.) According to Peteski's filing, Merit Street's "corporate actions and decisions were taken in full compliancewith Texas law and its corporate by-laws. The decision to declare bankruptcy was far from being a 'sham' and was instead a painful decision after much sweat equity had been invested into the Merit Network journey and brand development by Dr. McGraw." According to Dr. Phil's lawyers, "Peteski, having been deprived of a platform for 'Dr. Phil Primetime' and other programming, is in the process of rebuilding a network from the ground up. That network will be called Envoy. The suggestion that this was Peteski's preferred way of proceeding is belied by the facts." Peteski Productions invested almost $50 million "in an effort to save the Merit Network," according to the filing. In addition, when Trinity obtained a continuance of the final debtor-in-possession financing hearing that would have approved a loan to allow the payment of Merit's employees for their pre-bankruptcy work, "Peteski itself wrote checks totaling almost $1,000,000 so these workers, many of whom were in dire need of the money, would get paid," the filing says. Peteski's lawyers requested the court issue a "Dondi" instruction to parties in the case, a reference to a decision in 1988 case Dondi Properties Corp. v. Commerce Sav. & Loan Assoc. that "set out standards of conduct for lawyers and litigants" in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In addition, Dr. Phil's lawyers say, the court should "admonish all parties and their counsel to adhere to an order" similar to the one U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman entered in the case between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. In that proceeding, Judge Liman ordered in part that "All individuals filing documents in this case… are advised that they should not in any submission to this Court use language that is disrespectful of the parties, their counsel or the Court." Peteski's filing claims that to date there are roughly 700,000 subscribers on the MeritTV app, and "its platform could be very attractive either on its own or in combination with another investor/buyer. The actions of Trinity and PBR have been aimed to destroy that value." The company's filing concludes: "Peteski urges the Court to decide the pending Motion to Dismiss, and PBR Joinder, and any responses thereto as expeditiously as its schedule will permit. Justice delayed is justice denied. In this case, unfortunately, delayed justice will be a death sentence for the Debtor." Merit Street is majority-owned by Peteski Productions with a 66.5% stake; TBN owns 28.5% and Steve Harvey's SHG Partnership holds a 5% stake. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025 Sign up forVariety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.

Dr. Phil Fires Back at His Bankrupt Company’s Legal Foes, Accusing TBN and PBR of ‘Inflammatory and Damaging’ Attacks Aimed at Depressing Value of Merit Street

Dr. Phil Fires Back at His Bankrupt Company's Legal Foes, Accusing TBN and PBR of 'Inflammatory and Damaging' Attacks Aimed at D...
New Mexico governor declares state of emergency in Española area due to crimeNew Foto - New Mexico governor declares state of emergency in Española area due to crime

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hasdeclared a state of emergencyin the city of Española and nearby areas in response to what she calls "a significant surge" in violent crime and drug trafficking. The governor's order, which also covers the area of Rio Arriba County, Santa Clara and Ohkay Owingeh, authorizes $750,000 in emergency funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to provide resources to those communities, Grisham said in a news release on Wednesday. Grisham cited police calls in Española and surrounding areas having more than doubled in the past two years, with police dispatches to businesses also quadrupling. This is the second time this year Grisham has declared a state of emergency over crime in the state. In April, Grishamdeclared a state of emergency in Albuquerque, authorizing the deployment of about 70 New Mexico National Guard members to New Mexico's largest city. "When our local leaders called for help to protect their communities, we responded immediately with decisive action," the Democratic governor said Wednesday. "We are making every resource available to support our local partners on the ground and restore public safety and stability to these areas that have been hardest hit by this crisis." Rio Arriba County has the highest overdose death rate in the state, the governor said. It is just north of Santa Fe County and east of Taos County, and is also home to Abiquiu, most famous for being the home of Georgia O'Keeffe. Española, a small city with just over 10,500 residents, is known for itslowrider culture. Amid high rates of poverty, crime and drug use, those in thelowrider community have been working toward positive change, "60 Minutes" previously reported. In 2023, fentanyl was involved in 65% of statewide overdose deaths, according to thestate's health department. Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties were among the places where overdose death rates were higher than the statewide age-adjusted rate. However, the statewide overdose death numbers have declined 8% since 2021, when they peaked, the New Mexico Department of Health said earlier this year. President Trump says meeting with Russia's Putin is not to broker peace deal in Ukraine Tropical Storm Erin expected to become a major hurricane Could Tropical Storm Erin become the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025?

New Mexico governor declares state of emergency in Española area due to crime

New Mexico governor declares state of emergency in Española area due to crime New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hasdeclared a state of ...
Trump's route to Kennedy Center cleared of homeless camps amid DC crackdownNew Foto - Trump's route to Kennedy Center cleared of homeless camps amid DC crackdown

WASHINGTON ‒ Blocks away from where PresidentDonald Trumpannounced the latestslate of Kennedy Center honorees, workers began to sweep away homeless encampments along his route to the White House as part of hisbroader crackdownin the capital city. The Aug. 13 move comes days afterTrump seized controlof Washington, D.C.'s local law enforcement, deployed National Guard troops, and ordered people living outside to "immediately" move, suggesting, as the president put it, that they be relocated "FAR from the Capital." Amber Harding, executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said officials cleared at least two tents on a patch of green space near the Kennedy Center as Trump spoke at the performing arts center. Members of the city's Department of Human Services pinned notices to at least nine other tents in the area, notifying residents that the camps would be broken down and closed if not removed by the following morning. George Morgan, a lifelong D.C. resident who has lived in the encampment for two months, said he's not sure where he will go. He won't go to a shelter because they wouldn't allow him to bring his American pit bull terrier. "I'm very concerned," said Morgan, a Trump supporter, about the president's takeover of the city's police force and his mobilization of the National Guard. "I try not to take offense." He said while he doesn't know where he will go, he's "hopeful God will make a way." Advocates for the city's homeless population say they're still unclear where the Trump administration expects people living outside to move. At an Aug. 12 news conference, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters homeless people would be "given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental-health services, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time." She said U.S. Park Police have removed 70 homeless encampments from federal parks since March and are set to clear the remaining two encampments in the city later this week. Andrew Wassenich, director of policy at Miriam's Kitchen, a local nonprofit that assists the homeless, said Trump's rhetoric and the notices being put on tents appear targeted at scaring homeless people to leave. "The more people who do that on their own, the easier for them," he said. So far, Wassenich said the clearing of encampments mirrors past efforts by city officials to move people away from high-traffic areas of the city. In 2023, officials removed a large site of tents at apark near the White Housedespite pushback from some local officials and homeless advocacy groups. "They're not solving the homeless problem. It's not going away," Wassenich added. "They're just moving it." Over the weekend, the city's human services department added about 70 beds to homeless shelters to make room for an expected influx of residents, said Rachel Pierre, the agency's acting director. She said that the city's shelters were at capacity when the order took effect, but that additional room could be made. Wayne Turnage, the deputy mayor of the DC Department of Health and Human Services, said the number of homeless encampments in the city is way down from their pandemic levels. Turnage said about 100 people are living in encampments today – down from around 300 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But advocates said those numbers likely do not include all of the people living outside in D.C. The city counted 900 people living on the streets during aone-night surveyin January. When the city conducts a cleanup or shuts down an encampment, they typically provide residents with a week's notice, Turnage said. But with the new federal order in place, they're telling residents that they should pack up now. "Our objective is to see that the encampments are closed in an orderly fashion and to extend homeless services to those who are impacted," Turnage said. "These people are human beings, they're not chess pieces. Their lives are being disrupted, so we have to make sure that we do as much as we can to minimize the disruption." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Homeless encampments removed on Trump's Kennedy Center route

Trump’s route to Kennedy Center cleared of homeless camps amid DC crackdown

Trump's route to Kennedy Center cleared of homeless camps amid DC crackdown WASHINGTON ‒ Blocks away from where PresidentDonald Trumpann...
Federal agents set up checkpoint in popular D.C. area after crime directiveNew Foto - Federal agents set up checkpoint in popular D.C. area after crime directive

WASHINGTON — Steps away from a YMCA, popular bakery and local pharmacy, a group of law enforcement officers across several agencies turned a busy intersection in a mixed residential-commercial area of Washington, D.C., into a police checkpoint Wednesday night as part of President Donald Trump'sdirective to crack down on crimein the nation's capital. Uniformed officers with the Metropolitan Police Department stood alongside Homeland Security Investigations personnel and several plainclothes agents at the checkpoint in the U Street corridor at one of the first checkpoints set up since Trump temporarily put D.C. police under federal control and deployed the National Guard. More than 100 protesters soon gathered in the Northwest D.C. neighborhood, heckling law enforcement and chanting "get off our streets" as agents stopped cars and flagged some vehicles for additional investigation. Several protesters began warning drivers to avoid the checkpoint. One vehicle was towed away, with witnesses telling NBC News that the driver was removed from the sedan and arrested. As the crowd of protesters grew, federal agents and local officers dispersed, without incident. The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the checkpoint and any arrests. Members of the National Guard, roughly 800 of whom were activated this week to support law enforcement in the city, were not seen at the checkpoint. A White House official said Wednesday that the deployment of National Guard troops would be "significantly higher" throughout the week, and that the operation would expand from evening shifts to working around the clock. The increased law enforcement presence has drawn mixed reactions from D.C.-area residents — some are praising the crackdown on crime while others are criticizing Trump for his administration's tactics. "I know every inch of the city, and to have seen over the years the deterioration of public places, either with graffiti or with people who are homeless, I couldn't be more encouraged by the fact that there are people now that really want to say, 'Stop let's make this better,'" said Christopher Her, a Maryland resident who previously worked in D.C. Morgan Komlo, who's lived in Washington for 10 years, disputed Trump's characterization of the city as unsafe, pointing to falling violent crime rates. She called Trump'snews conferenceannouncing the federalization of the city's police "scary" and warned that a further exertion of executive power could result in protests. "I thought it was scary," Komlo said. "I also have lived here long enough to know D.C. is not going to stand for much, and I was here in 2016 when there was a lot of protesting" after Trump won the election. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday characterized Trump's takeover of local police as an "authoritarian push" during a virtual event she held with constituents where she rejected the president's assertion that there's been a spike in crime. But the Democratic mayor conceded that while she opposes Trump's actions, he has the authority to carry out his executive order. "We all need to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city, to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push," Bowser said. According tofederal datareleased in January, violent crime in the district for 2024 was at its lowest level in more than three decades, and down 35% from the previous year. InMonday's order, Trump cited several high-profile violent acts in justifying his decision to deploy National Guard troops and take control of the D.C. police, including the fatal shootings ofa congressional internin June andtwo Israeli Embassy staffersin May. The directive to federalize D.C. police lasts for the 30-day maximum, barring legislation passed by Congress to extend that period. Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that he plans to submit a bill that will include a request to extend his police takeover. "We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C.," he said. "We're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days." Passage of such a bill would be highly unlikely since it would need Democratic support in the Senate. National Guard troops began arriving in D.C. on Tuesday, the first tranche of nearly 800 soldiers activated by the Army to assist law enforcement in carrying out Trump's order. Roughly 30 National Guard troops were on the ground Tuesday evening, joining 750 uniformed Metropolitan Police Department officers in conducting anti-crime operations across the city. A senior Army officialtold NBC Newsthat the 800 National Guard troops are expected to be operational by the end of the week. Roughly 100-200 of those troops will be supporting law enforcement at any given time once all of them are deployed, according to a spokesperson for the Army. The primary focus of their work is providing law enforcement administrative help and protecting federal personnel and property, multiple U.S. officials told NBC News. The troops are not expected to engage in direct law enforcement activities. According to data provided by the administration, federal law enforcement personnel have helped make more than 100 arrests since Monday, a third of which have resulted in firearm-related charges. Including the federalized D.C. officers, more than 1,450 personnel participated in Tuesday's effort, according to administration figures Wednesday. That count included dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are joining personnel from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service. Roughly 40 agents within the Homeland Security Investigations division, which typically focuses on long-term probes into transnational crimes, have joined federal personnel in an effort to mitigate crime in the city irrespective of whether those crimes are directly related to immigration. Combating unlawful immigration, a consistent focal point of Trump's presidency, is also playing a role in Trump's D.C. police takeover, with agents from ICE's Enforcement Removal Operation carrying out "targeted" stings this week to arrest immigrants. A spokesperson for ICE said that an operation at a Home Depot "resulted in arrests of criminal illegal aliens convicted of assault, theft and gang activity." "The President was clear, he will make DC safe and beautiful again, and ICE is proud to be a part of the solution alongside our federal law enforcement partners. This includes both immigration enforcement and efforts to combat crime in support of the US Marshals Service," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Federal agents set up checkpoint in popular D.C. area after crime directive

Federal agents set up checkpoint in popular D.C. area after crime directive WASHINGTON — Steps away from a YMCA, popular bakery and local ph...

 

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