Barack Obama warns against Trump’s militarization of American police and cities

“The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk,” wrote America’s first Black president.

Former President Barack Obama is continuing his criticisms of President Donald Trump’s actions, this time warning against the 47th president of the United States’ recent takeover of the D.C. local police and the deployment of troops in U.S. cities, and what it could signal for the country’s future.

Obama, who has previously spoken out against Trump’s political threats against corporations, law firms, and college campuses, among other actions, shared an interview that details the dangers of militarizing state and local police against U.S. citizens in American cities.

“[It] provides a useful overview of some of the dangerous trends we’ve been seeing in recent months regarding federalization and militarization of state and local police functions,” wrote America’s first Black president in a post on X.

Obama shared an interview with journalist Radley Balko from the New York Times. Balko is a decades-long expert on policing and criminal justice and the author of “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.”

Balko warned on “The Ezra Klein Show” that President Trump’s use of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department in a declared “crime emergency”—as well as sending troops into the nation’s capital and Los Angeles, and threatening to do the same in other cities like Chicago and Baltimore— fits into a larger trend of militarizing law enforcement to the detriment of U.S. citizens.

“What we’re seeing right now is a response to a manufactured crisis. I mean, yes, crime is real, and crime is higher in D.C. than in other cities. But there is no crisis in D.C. — as we’ve all documented, crime is down pretty significantly there,” explained Balko.

Balko said he saw trends in “tactics, operations and policies” for over 20 years, suggesting that police agencies are becoming “too militarized, too aggressive and too us versus them.”

The journalist explained that militarization can be seen not just in the military-style equipment police agencies now use beyond handguns and tasers, but also in the “mentality they bring to the job.”

What’s more, Balko highlighted the fact that President Trump has expanded the hiring and operations of ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, while cutting funds for more independent law enforcement agencies like the FBI, ATF, and DEA. He believes it is because many ICE and Border Patrol officers have shown “loyalty” to Trumpism over the years.

“I think this is an effort to build up the two federal policing agencies that Trump sees as most loyal and deferential to him,” Balko told the New York Times, adding, “Obviously, the mass deportations are going to ensure that those two agencies remain relevant throughout his administration.”

He warned, “There aren’t very many countries in which the figurative political head of the country assembled his own personal paramilitary force that was loyal only to him where things turned out well. So that’s where I think we are right now.”

Notably, the times in U.S. history when police saw expanded militarization occurred during periods that largely targeted Black, brown, and immigrant communities.

“It was always in response to a real threat. So it happened during the crack epidemic, which killed a lot of people. It happened again after Sept. 11, when you had these attacks on American soil,” Balko explained.

As a surge of ICE and Border agents swarm cities to detain undocumented immigrations—many of whom are masked—Balko also pointed out that federal agents almost have no accountability. When President Trump announced his federal surge in D.C., he said officers would be able to do “whatever the hell they want.”

Following a Supreme Court ruling that essentially eliminated civil liability for federal law enforcement officers and a Justice Department run by Trump that would almost certainly not charge any officer for criminal liability, Balko explains that there’s very little the public can do to seek accountability for any abuses committed against citizens and other undocumented individuals.

“I mean the only way that you can hold these agents accountable in any way for the displays of abuse and cruelty that we’re seeing is social opprobrium or social shaming,” he said.

As President Obama said in his post of Balko’s interview with the Times: “The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk, and should concern democrats and republicans alike.”