Evening Brief: European Leaders Want Trump to Use Sanctions Before Putin Meeting, DC Mayor Defends Her City’s Crime Rate

· Guy D. McCardle

Crime in DC may be down, but it is still above the national average for large urban areas. Image Credit: ABC News

Europe’s playing the long game here, and they’re trying to make sure President Trump knows exactly how high the stakes are before he sits down with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The mission? End the bloodletting in Ukraine without letting Moscow redraw the map by force. European leaders are hammering one point over and over—this isn’t just about handshakes and photo ops. Any peace deal worth the paper it’s printed on has to combine old-fashioned diplomacy with a steel-fist approach: strong support for Ukraine and sanctions that squeeze Russia until it hurts.

Before the summit, a small army of European officials huddled with U.S. reps and Ukraine’s own leadership. The goal was simple—make sure Trump understands exactly what Putin wants and why it’s a non-starter. Putin’s shopping list is short but outrageous: full control over Crimea and most of the Donbas. Ukraine’s answer, backed by the West, is a flat-out “no.” In Europe’s eyes, leaving Kyiv out of the talks is a one-way ticket to a dead deal. You can’t settle a fight without the guy getting punched at the table.

Trump’s put a clock on the wall. If Putin doesn’t sign off on a ceasefire by the deadline, the U.S. will crank up our sanctions. This next round doesn’t just target Russia—it’ll go after any country still buying Russian oil. Europe’s nodding along, seeing sanctions and diplomacy as a two-pronged spear aimed at stopping Kremlin aggression cold. But behind the headlines, progress is moving slower than a tank in the mud. The details of those sanctions? Still being hammered out. And until the pieces fall into place, the guns will keep doing the talking in Ukraine. Europe’s betting hard that a mix of pressure and talks will get Putin to blink. Whether that happens in Alaska is anyone’s guess.

 

D.C. Crime Down, But the Political Crossfire’s Still Hot

Muriel Bowser’s not mincing words. The D.C. Mayor is standing on the steps of her “world-class city” and telling President Trump to check the scoreboard before calling it a war zone. She’s got the receipts: federal data and MPD stats showing violent crime at a 30-year low. From 2023 to 2024, violent crime took a 35% dive, and 2025’s numbers are still sinking—homicides down 12%, sexual assaults cut nearly in half, and robberies off by 28%. Even property crimes like burglary and car theft are on the decline. The message? The narrative of rising danger just doesn’t hold water.

Bowser says this isn’t some statistical fluke—it’s the result of boots on the ground and targeted programs that actually work. Local policing, juvenile curfews, and community outreach are doing the heavy lifting, not federal muscle. She’s quick to point out that when the feds do make arrests in the city, most are for misdemeanors or quality-of-life violations, not violent crime. Sure, carjackings and other high-profile incidents still make the headlines, but she calls them outliers, not the trend.

Trump, meanwhile, has been talking about a federal takeover of the city’s police functions, painting D.C. as a law-and-order failure. Bowser’s having none of it. She’s not rejecting help outright—she says there’s room for federal assistance—but she wants collaboration, not control. She also slips in a reminder about D.C.’s financial muscle: a AAA bond rating from Moody’s. In her mind, you don’t get that kind of fiscal health if your city’s in free fall. The fight here isn’t just about crime rates—it’s about who gets to call the shots. And in Bowser’s book, the city she runs is safer, stronger, and more in control than the doomsday narrative would have you believe.

But…lest we forget, while the crime rate has indeed dropped, it has fallen from “untolerable” to merely “miserable”. DC still has considerably higher violent crime rates than most major US cities.

 

Netanyahu Pushes Hard on Gaza City Offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t backing down. He’s rolling out a bigger, bolder push into Gaza City—the most densely packed spot in the Gaza Strip—saying the mission is to crush Hamas and bring this war to a close “fairly quickly.” According to him, there’s no other choice. Hamas is still holding Israeli hostages and won’t put down their weapons unless they get a Palestinian state, something Netanyahu isn’t putting on the table.

Now, he’s clear about one thing: Israel doesn’t plan to permanently occupy Gaza. His vision is to “free” it—strip Hamas of its weapons, keep tight Israeli military security in place, and hand civilian administration over to someone who isn’t Israeli. As part of the plan, he’s talking about setting up “safe zones” so civilians can get out of harm’s way during the assault. The problem? Palestinians have heard this before, and past promises of safe zones didn’t end well.

The international crowd isn’t happy. Neither are protesters inside Israel. Netanyahu says the offensive is the only way to end the war and bring the hostages home. He’s even pointing to a joint humanitarian aid “surge” with the U.S. to get food and supplies into Gaza, pushing back on claims of famine. He admits people are hurting but calls it “deprivation,” not outright starvation.

Critics on his right say he’s going too soft. Global leaders warn he’s about to make the humanitarian crisis even worse. Military leaders and hostage advocates say a heavier assault could put those hostages in greater danger. Still, Netanyahu is talking about a short timeline—moving on Gaza City fast, locking down Israel’s borders, and walking away without planting a permanent occupation flag. Whether that’s possible or not is another story entirely.

Stay tuned.