Daniel Koh, former Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, appeared on MSNBC to discuss President Donald Trump‘s decision to deploy 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C.
[Note: Justifying the move, Trump has claimed “crime is out of control in the District of Columbia” and that there is “rising violence in the capital,” although — as objectors point out — after a spike in 2023, violent crime in D.C. declined in 2024 and has declined again so far in 2025.]
On MSNBC, Koh was asked to make the argument that it is really Trump who is “defunding the police,” not the much-maligned Democrats.
[NOTE: The GOP’s electorally important but unproven claim to be the “party of law and order” relies on routinely slamming Democrats for an alleged lack of support for law enforcement. Even as crime stats historically don’t show any Republican advantage on the issue, the GOP claim was fed fuel when some Democrats embraced the “defund the police” rallying cry heard during nationwide police brutality protests after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.]
Koh responded: “There is no President in modern history who has done more to cut money to law enforcement nationwide. Donald Trump announced that he was freezing $800 million in grants to 48 states and 550 community violence intervention programs including for things like police overtime.”
I was asked to prove Donald Trump is defunding the police.
— Dan Koh (@dank) August 14, 2025
Challenge accepted.
No President in modern history has cut more federal law enforcement funding.
And he’s gutting the proven programs that make us all safer.
I came with receipts. 👇 pic.twitter.com/PQ7dfFeQpA
Koh added, “I used to be chief of staff at the City of Boston, and the rate of homicides per 100,000 in Boston is 3.5. Compare that to D.C. at 27 or Jackson at 72. The reason why we did that is because we brought the community together with the police. We built that trust.”
Koh added that President Trump is cutting programs that are effectively reducing crime in neighborhoods, citing the non-profit organization Youth ALIVE! in Oakland, California, the nation’s first hospital-based violence intervention program.
Check out this video to see how @YouthALIVE510 supports the healing of individuals and communities affected by violence.
— The HAVI (@TheHAVI) July 23, 2024
Learn more about the @aboutKP Center for Gun Violence Research and Education at https://t.co/BRxegb9Auh #ViolencePrevention pic.twitter.com/wh0Eb0IsM3
Koh said Youth ALIVE! “goes to the bedside of youth after they’ve been involved with violence,” and noted that “113 people last year went through that program, only one got into violence again the next year.”
The organization lost its $2 million grant under the Trump administration cuts. Dr. Joseph Griffin, executive director of Youth ALIVE!, said of the financial loss, “It’s not an impact that we can absorb lightly. Replacing $2 million is never easy.”
