The Brief

In the days since declaring a " crime emergency " in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump has spoken repeatedly of extending federal control over the city, even as it fights back with protests and legal challenges.

Trump took control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and deployed D.C.'s National Guard last week after a former DOGE staffer was injured in an attempted carjacking. Trump has cited "out of control" crime, despite the fact that city data shows violent crime is at a 30-year low .

The 1973 Home Rule Act gives the president command of D.C.'s National Guard. It also allows him to use local police for federal purposes during emergencies — but only for up to 30 days without authorization from Congress, which is on recess until early September.

"We're going to do this very quickly, but we're going to want extensions," Trump told reporters last Wednesday, referring to MPD control.

That has left many in D.C. wondering: How long can Trump's law enforcement takeover last?

"That is actually a question that we don't really have an answer to, because there is very little case law about the proper uses of the D.C. National Guard or about the authority that the president is relying on to invite other states to send their National Guard forces into D.C.," says Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

No other president has taken control of the MPD since the passage of the Home Rule Act. And while there are no clear time limits on his use of the D.C. National Guard, previous deployments — including responding to civil rights protests in 1968 and 2020 — have addressed more specific crises.

Trump's focus on crime, in contrast, seems much broader and more politically motivated, says Goitein, noting that the president has suggested other Democratic-run cities, like New York and Chicago, could be next .

"It just seems like this is a flexing of federal muscle to intimidate jurisdictions across the country," she says. "And so it's not clear what could bring this to an end, other than intervention by the courts, by Congress or overwhelming public disapproval."

Police officers set up a roadside checkpoint on 14th Street NW, a busy commercial street in D.C., last week.

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Last week, after D.C.'s attorney general sued the Trump administration to block its police takeover, a federal judge effectively halted its plan to replace D.C.'s police chief .

But the federal government has oversight over local police for now. And hundreds of National Guard members, some armed , are patrolling the city, with more on the way. The Republican governors of at least five other states say they are sending their own National Guard troops to the nation's capital — raising questions about what they will do and how long they will stay.

"If crime is already down, then at what point do they say, 'Mission accomplished'?" says Meryl Chertoff, an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. "Or is the mission going to last endlessly because you're never going to drive crime down to zero?"

The White House declined to answer questions about its timeline for withdrawing National Guard troops from D.C., telling NPR on Monday: "We wouldn't get ahead of any potential announcements from POTUS."

Chertoff says the fact that Trump is already talking about extending his control over MPD, and inviting governors of other states to deploy their National Guard troops, suggests he is not making his decisions based on data.

"If the president were really serious about this as law enforcement, as opposed to intimidation or provocation of people who live in D.C., he would wait to see whether the current activation was enough to solve the problem which he says exists in D.C.," she adds.

What are the limits on Trump's use of D.C. police? 

Thousands marched through Washington, D.C., on Saturday to protest President Trump's use of federal agents and the National Guard to conduct policing actions throughout the city.

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Section 740 of the Home Rule Act allows the president to temporarily use D.C. police if he determines that "special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes."

He can only do so for 30 days, at which point the House and Senate would need to pass a joint resolution authorizing an extension. Trump's Aug. 11 executive order declared such an emergency and requested the services of the police "for the maximum period permitted."

That initial window would run through Sept. 10, unless Trump ends it sooner. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week that "we will reevaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up."

Mere days later, Trump himself said his administration would ask for "long-term extensions."

"I think the Republicans in Congress will approve this pretty much unanimously," he added.

Indeed, many Republican lawmakers — including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune — have complained of crime in D.C. and embraced Trump's efforts to address it.

"Give Trump a third term, give him a Peace Prize, and let him run D.C. as long as he wants," Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., tweeted Friday , despite the fact that the Constitution limits presidents to two elected terms .

Many Democrats — both in Congress and in local government — strongly oppose Trump's takeover, painting it as a threat to democracy in D.C. and beyond.

Last week, several House Democrats introduced a resolution that would terminate Trump's federalization of the MPD. Home rule allows Congress to end the president's control of local police through a joint resolution, though it would face an uphill battle in a Republican-controlled Congress.

Legal challenges pose a more likely obstacle to Trump's takeover, as was the case last week. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the U.S. Justice Department to block what he called a " hostile takeover " after it tried to put a federal official in charge of the MPD.

At an emergency hearing on Friday, Judge Ana Reyes — appointed by former President Joe Biden — suggested she would grant Schwalb's request unless the Justice Department rewrote its memo to leave the existing police chief in charge. She indicated she will hold another hearing on the broader legal questions this week.

"I still do not understand on what basis the president … can say, 'You, police department, can't do anything unless I say you can,' " Reyes said, according to reporting from Politico , USA Today and others. "That cannot be the reading of the statute."

What would need to happen for the National Guard to leave? 

Members of the D.C. National Guard patrol the Foggy Bottom Metro station on Saturday.

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Home Rule gives the president command of the D.C. National Guard, a power that goes to governors in other states. It does not limit how long the Guard can be deployed.

Experts say there are a few ways that the Guard's time in D.C. could come to an end.

Lawsuits are one of them. Goitein, of the Brennan Center, says they would likely center around the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which largely limits the military's role in domestic law enforcement — and has several potential loopholes.

"President Trump is trying to exploit a couple of those loopholes," she says. "And we don't know yet whether the courts are going to endorse what he's doing."

For example, she says the administration might argue the D.C. National Guard is operating under non-federal status (despite being under the president's command), which would make it exempt from Posse Comitatus. Or it could argue that the National Guard is not directly involved in law enforcement in D.C. (The Army said last week that guard members will not conduct arrests , but serve as a "visible crime deterrent.")

Chertoff says that as long as Reyes has jurisdiction over the police case, D.C.'s attorney general could theoretically go back and "ask for additional rulings with respect to the use of the National Guard." While it has "limited cards to play," she says the influx of troops from states could lend support to a potential abuse-of-power argument.

There are also more practical considerations. For example, National Guard forces are at the forefront of responding to natural disasters, and could be needed more urgently at home during Atlantic hurricane season.

When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced the deployment of 200 troops to D.C. on Saturday, with Hurricane Erin approaching the East Coast, he said, "should a hurricane or natural disaster threaten our state, these men and women can and will be immediately recalled home to respond."

Goitein says there's also the power of public opinion, citing videos of masked agents conducting operations going viral and disruptions to local businesses; Data from online dining platform OpenTable showed a 25% drop in D.C. restaurant reservations in the days after Trump's takeover.

She says the public response, from protests to polling, could potentially shape Trump's decisions.

"As it becomes increasingly clear that D.C. is essentially under military occupation and that what's happening here, if replicated elsewhere, basically is moving this country toward a police state, that can move public opinion," Goitein says. "And public opinion can move the president."
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Fans tired of waiting for the next Frozen sequel or the next chapter in the Star Wars saga may soon have new ways to engage with those worlds — by creating their own content using Disney's IP.

That was the tantalizing hint Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped during an earnings call Thursday, as he described how the company is exploring ways to make the Disney+ subscription-based streaming service more interactive, and customizable for users.

While Iger stopped short of making any formal announcements, he suggested Disney is in discussions with artificial intelligence companies about tools that could allow subscribers to generate and share their own content built from Disney-owned stories.

"AI is going to give us the ability to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience, including the ability for them to create user-generated content," Iger said.

Disney+ declined to offer additional details about what form these new creative tools might take or which tech companies were involved in the negotiations. Meanwhile, AI remains a concern in many parts of the entertainment industry, with many companies including Disney engaged in lawsuits against AI players for copyright infringement.

Iger acknowledged this tension. On the earnings call, the CEO said the company's conversations with potential AI partners are focused on enabling new forms of fan engagement and guarding against uses that could dilute or misuse Disney IP.

"It's obviously imperative for us to protect our IP with this new technology," Iger said.

The trend towards increased interactivity 

Disney isn't alone in trying to rethink the boundaries between audiences and the entertainment they consume.

At the recent TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Netflix's chief technology officer, Elizabeth Stone, offered her own look at a future shaped by deeper user engagement.

"The future of entertainment is likely to be even more personalized, even more interactive, even more immersive," Stone said during an on-stage conversation with TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos.

In addition to games and social media videos, one of Netflix's most talked-about experiments in this direction arrives next year: Stone said viewers of the classic talent competition Star Search reboot will be able to cast votes directly from their TVs or phones, influencing which contestants advance – or do not.

Younger audiences and deal-making climate drive quest for interactivity

This engagement layer sits on top of Netflix's vast library of films and TV series. But platform leaders increasingly see passive watching as only part of the picture.

Younger audiences, especially Gen Z, are gravitating toward spaces where they can participate, remix and respond rather than simply watch. According to Deloitte's 2025 Digital Media Trends survey , more than half of Gen Z respondents say social media content feels more relevant to them than traditional TV shows and movies. The research also points to the growing popularity of indie creators, and a change in consumer expectations around quality: Content doesn't always have to be polished to be extremely popular, as some of the most-watched feeds on YouTube and TikTok prove.

At the same time, despite ongoing litigation, entertainment corporations are starting to get comfortable with the idea of licensing content to AI companies. One of the most high-profile in recent weeks is the licensing partnership between Universal Music Group and the AI music creation platform Udio.

"It shows that the AI companies can work with the creative community to come up with models that work for both of them," Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid told NPR regarding this particular deal. "And I think we're going to start seeing more and more deals come through because they realize they can do this and do it the right way."

Copyright 2025 NPR

The Trump administration is upending its homelessness policy, with deep cuts to funding for long-term housing. Instead, it will shift money toward transitional housing that requires work and addiction treatment.

In a statement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the new policies will "restore accountability" and promote "self-sufficiency" by addressing the "root causes of homelessness, including illicit drugs and mental illness."

Critics warn the major overhaul could put 170,000 people at risk of losing their housing again. And they say the timing of this major overhaul is terrible. Normally, funding notices go out in August, but now programs around the country will have little time to start applying for new funding in January. And in many places, it will leave a months-long gap after current funding runs out and before new money flows.

In another change, HUD will no longer automatically renew existing programs — creating the possibility that formerly homeless people who've lived in subsidized housing for years will be forced out. The agency is also opening up more funding for faith-based groups.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness says the new policies could upend life for many people who've found stability in permanent housing programs. "HUD's new funding priorities slam the door on them, their providers, and their communities. Make no mistake: homelessness will only increase because of this reckless and irresponsible decision," CEO Ann Oliva said in a statement.

The funding shift reflects a conservative backlash to longstanding policies

For two decades, federal funding has prioritized getting people into permanent housing and then offering them treatment. That policy is called Housing First and has long had bipartisan support. Backers say the approach has a proven track record of keeping people off the streets.

But critics counter that it has failed to stem the steady rise of homelessness to what are now historic levels.

Those critics include President Donald Trump, who has long pushed cities to clear homeless encampments from streets and parks. The new funding shift reflects an executive order he signed in July , which also sought to make it easier to confine unhoused people in mental institutions against their will.

"The influence of Housing First just became too powerful," says Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think-tank. He calls it a top-down approach, and says for years it was hard to get funding unless a program followed that policy. Eide says that left out a large group of people who may not need permanent housing or who may want the enforced sobriety it does not offer.

"I think what we're going to be looking for is a reinvestment in transitional housing," he says. That means places people can stay for 18 months or so to get sober or recover in other ways, and then — ideally — move out and succeed on their own.

There's broad agreement that the U.S. needs more of every kind of support for homeless people: permanent housing, rehab and mental illness treatment. But critics of HUD's shift fear this may make it harder for some to get help.

"It is moving away from trauma-informed care, and that's problematic," says Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of LA Family Housing in Los Angeles.

For example, she thinks this will lead more shelters to bar people unless they're already sober or enrolled in recovery or mental health care. But that's a high bar for many people, she says, and it could backfire.
Copyright 2025 NPR

President Donald Trump says he is going to "make America affordable again." It's a pledge he made frequently during the campaign. And now, after dropping it from his lexicon for more than eight months, he's saying it again as polls show voters rank the economy and cost of living as their top concern and blame Trump's policies for making things worse.

A senior administration official tells NPR Trump will soon travel around the country with a message that while some things have improved, there is more work to do to help people feeling economic strain. The official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, added that when it comes to affordability, "there's no finish line."

Thus far, Trump has spent far more time boasting about how great the economy and stock market are doing than acknowledging any economic anxiety.

"Record high, record high, record high," Trump said of the stock market last week at a business event in Florida.

"Costs are way down," Trump said at a late night signing ceremony in the Oval Office Wednesday. "My administration and our partners in Congress will continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety, grow our economy and make America affordable again for all Americans."

Trump's affordability challenge marks a dramatic reversal of fortune for a president who returned to office on a promise to bring costs down and whose greatest political strength was on the economy. Now his approval rating on the economy is severely underwater.

After sweeping wins by Democrats in last week's elections where the cost-of-living was a key issue, Trump suddenly had a lot to say about "affordability." But he has frequently come across as dismissive and defensive.

"The affordability is much better with the Republicans," Trump said last week. "The only problem is the Republicans don't talk about it, and Republicans should start talking about it and use their heads."

But earlier this week when Fox News' Laura Ingraham pressed Trump on rising costs of things like coffee and ground beef, he called it a "con job by the Democrats."

Asked why people are anxious about the economy, Trump responded by questioning whether people really are saying that.

"I think polls are fake," Trump said. "We have the greatest economy we've ever had."

To support his positive outlook, Trump points to the booming stock market, his tariff policy and pledges by companies and countries to invest in the U.S.

Inflation this year has been persistent but not dramatic, at about 3%. Eggs have gotten cheaper since Trump took office, but other staples like ground beef and coffee are up. According to Gas Buddy , the average price of gasoline in the U.S. is $3.09 per gallon, slightly higher than this time last year.

"Consumer confidence is the lowest it's ever been," said Jason Furman, a professor of economics at Harvard. "People are really negative about inflation."

It's a political truth — and a pitfall for presidents — that people don't want to hear that everything is awesome if they are struggling.

Furman, who served in the Obama administration, says the messaging team in that White House was very cautious not to brag about the economy, as the nation emerged from the Great Recession.

"Because they thought anything we said positive about the economy risked people thinking President Obama was out of touch," said Furman. "I didn't see that type of reserve when Biden was president. He bragged about it quite a lot, and I think that [rang] hollow with a lot of people. And President Trump is even less reserved about his bragging."

Trump's insistence that the economy is great earned him a rebuke from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Appearing on the Sean Spicer Show on YouTube , Greene said she gives Trump credit for holding inflation steady.

"But that doesn't bring prices down," said Greene. "And so gaslighting the people and trying to tell them that prices have come down is not helping. It's actually infuriating people because people know what they are paying at the grocery store, they know what they're paying for their kid's clothes and school supplies. They know what they're paying for their electricity bills."

She called for compassion rather than lecturing.

Former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore says there are three major cost issues that have to be addressed: grocery prices, home prices and health care costs.

"It is true factually that the average family has more purchasing power today than they did when Biden left office," said Moore. "And yet people don't feel it. You know, they're not feeling the love. And I can't explain why that is except that people tend to focus on things where their prices are rising."

In fact, purchasing power also grew during the Biden administration, because wages rose faster than costs. But voters didn't want to hear it then, and they are in no mood to hear it now.

"People are kind of in a crabby mood right now when it comes to the economy," said Moore.
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