DHS

The shameless Department of Homeland Security issued a press release on July 28 that attributed the drop in violent crime—as reported by the Council on Criminal Justice—to ICE’s removal of “the worst of the worst” undocumented immigrants from American communities.

That’s hogwash. The Council’s July 24 report made no such connection to ICE’s storm trooper tactics.

it noted that homicides dropped 17 percent in 30 cities during the first-half of 2025 compared to 2024. Reported gun assaults (-21%), robberies (-20%), residential burglaries (-19%), non-residential burglaries (-18%), shoplifting (-12%), aggravated and sexual assaults (-10%), and larcenies (-5%) all fell.

The Council attributed the drop in the homicides due to big declines in cities such as St. Louis and Baltimore that had suffered high homicide rates.

The overall decline in violent crime is part of the trend to return to crime levels that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Council.

It headed the study with: “Homicide, Other Violent Crimes Continue to Fall Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in U.S. Cities at Mid-Year.”

DHS would have you think differently.

Its press release screams: “America’s crime drop isn’t a coincidence. Trump’s immigration policies are working.”

The release noted “since January 2025—when President Donald Trump took the helm—homicide is down 17% through the month of June 2025 compared to the same time period in 2024 across 30 U.S. cities.”

It includes a quote from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, our law enforcement is working at lightning speed to remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the US."

McLaughlin went on about ICE arresting gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and violent predators. She claimed these arrests and deportations of criminal illegal aliens are having real impact on public safety.

That’s debatable. DHS hijacked the Council’s report that has no mention of Trump, Noem or ICE.

Fox News dutifully stepped in and rallied on behalf of DHS. It ran an op-ed on July 28 that was headlined with the same “America’s crime drop isn’t a coincidence. Trump’s immigration policies are working” line that was used in the press release.

How’s that for being a Trump toady.”

Please more Tacos, Mr. President. The Consumer Board reports consumer confidence rose two points in July as Donald Trump walked away from the sky high tariffs that he had threatened to impose on the rest of the world during his so-called April 2 Liberation Day photo-op. Americans just love when Trump Chickens Out Again.

Consumers rightly feared that Trump's crazy tariffs would power an increase in inflation and trigger a global trade war.

Thankfully, he trashed the punishing tariffs and cut deals with Japan, UK, Indonesia, China and Vietnam to allay some of that fear that people had about the economy.

Team Trump’s trade deal with the European Union, which it modestly calls the “biggest deal ever," was announced after the Conference Board wrapped up its July survey. It is expected to give the August consumer confidence numbers a boost.

But a closer look at the EU deal causes one to pause, and perhaps temper that anticipated confidence boost.

To avoid a trade war with the US, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen promised to invest $600B in the US. That outlay is to come from private European companies, which the EU has no control over.

"That part of the deal is largely performative," Nils Redeker from the Jacques Delors Centre think tank told Politico. "[The EU] is not China, right? So nobody can tell private companies how much they invest in the U.S.”

Let Trump bask in the glory of his greatest trade deal of all time. But he may have been snookered by von der Leyen.

Welcome to Brooklyn, election fraud sleuths. Republican politicos who believe Democrats rig and steal elections should take a look at the Republican primary for NYC City Council.

Shenanigans may have taken place in the district of NYC’s only GOP Congressional representative, Nicole Malliotakis. [Full disclosure: I live in the Brooklyn part of her district that includes all of Staten Island.]

Businessman George Sarantopoulos beat the chair of the Brooklyn Republican Party Richie Barsamian by 16 votes in the June 24 vote. Nicole backed Richie.

Twenty-two ballots were discovered late on election night. They were not scanned by the voting machines.

The New York Post gleefully reported that two of those absentee ballots were “cast” by dead people, and another one by a guy who claims that he did not vote in the first place.

Both campaigns urged investigations. A lawyer for Barsamian claimed with an apparent straight face that 21 of the 22 missing ballots were for his candidate. The attorney admitted such a slam-dunk would be “peculiar.” Oh, what fun!

No matter how it shakes out. Either GOP candidate is going to be toast in the November election against Democrat Kayla Santosuosso, who is an aide to the incumbent Justin Brannan.

Justin, who was term-limited, lost his primary for NYC comptroller, and may challenge Nicole for Congress. That battle would have great entertainment potential.