BREAKING: Trump looks to defund New York, other ‘anarchist cities’

In these cities, negligence by city officials combined with decimated police budgets and lockdown measures has led to lawlessness and riots.

"My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones," Trump said as part of a five-page memo.

"To ensure that Federal funds are neither unduly wasted nor spent in a manner that directly violates our Government's promise to protect life, liberty, and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America's cities."

Attorney General William Barr has been tasked with creating a list of "anarchist jurisdictions."

More from the memo: "In light of this unconscionable rise in violence, I have offered to provide Federal law enforcement assistance, but both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have rejected my offer."

"As a result of these State and local government policies, persistent and outrageous acts of violence and destruction have continued unabated in many of America's cities, such as Portland, Seattle, and New York."

"Mayor Muriel Bowser allowed rioters and anarchists to engage in violence and destruction in late May and early June, requiring me to call in the National Guard to maintain law and order in the Nation’s Capital."

"While violence has surged, arrests have plummeted. In a 28-day period during the months of June and July, [New York City] arrests were down 62 percent from the same period in 2019. Amidst the rising violence, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council agreed to cut one billion dollars from the New York Police Department (NYPD) budget, including by cancelling the hiring of 1,163 officers."

"On July 1, Seattle declared the protest zone dismantled. But such failed leadership continues to harm the people of Seattle as, in recent weeks, rioters have engaged in violence and destruction of property across Seattle, resulting in at least 59 police officers being injured and multiple businesses and vehicles vandalized."

In New York City, gun violence has risen by 177 percent in July. Portland, Seattle and Washington have been the sites of violent riots throughout the summer.

An executive order such as this would follow the Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence which Trump signed on June 26.

This order called out the failure of local governments to protect public property, namely public statues that were being torn down by mobs of vandals. The order stated that "In the midst of these attacks, many State and local governments appear to have lost the ability to distinguish between the lawful exercise of rights to free speech and assembly and unvarnished vandalism. They have surrendered to mob rule, imperiling community safety, allowing for the wholesale violation of our laws, and privileging the violent impulses of the mob over the rights of law-abiding citizens."

The order indicated that funding could be pulled from cities that refuse to protect and safeguard public monuments, statutes or federal property.

The Trump administration has offered federal assistance in the form of federal agents and officers to assist Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and New York City, and has been consistently rebuffed by the Democrat leaders of those cities and their states. Federal officers were deployed to both Portland and Chicago.