President Donald Trump has apparently decided it's time for cities and states to do the unthinkable: actually clear out homeless encampments and send people to get mental health and addiction treatment. This shocking act of basic governance comes on the heels of a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that gave municipalities the green light to ban public camping.
According to the Daily Mail, the move comes in the wake of a sharp increase in homelessness over the year 2024, with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness reporting that over 750,000 people are now considered “unhoused” across the nation, making an 18 percent jump from the previous year. Of those, 36 percent were unsheltered, meaning they were living in tents, vehicles, or makeshift street dwellings.
“Homeless camps have become a public health risk, a security threat, and an eyesore in far too many American cities,” Trump said in a press statement. The president has made no secret of his disdain for these encampments, especially those in Washington, D.C., which he argues diminish the dignity of the nation’s capital.
“It’s terrible, and we’ll have them removed immediately,” he added when asked about tents spotted near the White House.
The move comes in the wake of simultaneous moves by the Trump administration to establish a national center for homeless veterans in cities like Los Angeles.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has been tasked with challenging state and federal rulings that prevent local authorities from clearing these camps. According to Bondi, the Trump administration is determined to give local governments more tools to act in the fight against nationwide homelessness.
The order also levels federal grant money toward cities that enforce bans on public camping, drug use, and squatting.
Additionally, it cuts off federal funding for so-called “supervised injection sites,” effectively locations where addicts can shoot up with taxpayer-funded medical staff on standby.
As critics are quick to note, these sites do a stellar job of helping addicts keep using, just with cleaner needles and a friendly nurse nearby.
Rather than pretend this is somehow compassionate, the Trump admin has the audacity to say that no, we should help addicts rather than enable their addictions, not to mention the frequent mismanagement of funds meant to combat homelessness in liberal-run cities.
Predictably, activist groups are already crying foul. The National Coalition for the Homeless accused the Trump administration of undermining legal protections for the homeless and mentally ill, while the National Homelessness Law Center stated for the record that “Forced treatment is unethical, ineffective, and illegal.”
Disregarding the fact that drug use is illegal in the first place.
Apparently, the same people who think handing out needles and clean tents is a solution are mad that someone finally wants to do something serious about the crisis.
As noted by the Daily Mail, critics of Trump’s order continue to blame the decisions of previous governments to shutter psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and ‘70s for the ongoing drug epidemic and mental health crisis seen today.
While the “war on drugs” was undeniably a decisive victory on the side of drugs, the idea that failure should mean that we just stop punishing drug offenses altogether is ludicrous, as proponents of Trump’s policies are quick to point out.
Sometimes, genuine progress requires tough decisions. The expression, “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” comes to mind. It is not that drug users are inherently evil, but drug abuse is intrinsically linked to further crimes in pursuit of the addiction.
Sometimes, showing genuine love and care for a person requires telling them no and getting them the treatment they need. Ignoring a problem only serves to ensure its continued existence.
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