Trump orders review to strip 'anarchistic' cities like New York of federal funding, report says

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Donald Trump said he will order the federal government to begin the process to defund New York City, Washington, DC, Seattle and Portland, which he has deemed "lawless" by allowing protests and cutting police budgets.

The New York Post reported on Wednesday that the president signed a five-page memo ordering all federal agencies to to report to the White House Office of Management and Budget details of any funds that can be redirected away from the cities.

The move is part of Mr Trump's "law and order" message going into the 2020 US election.

"My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones," Mr Trump said in a memo.

Protests in each of the named targets for the president's defunding have been largely contained to small parts of the cities. Residents of Washington, DC, Portland and New York have posted videos and photos to social media in the past week of the cities operating as normal in an effort to counter rumours that their cities have been destroyed by protests.

"To ensure that Federal funds are neither unduly wasted nor spent in a manner that directly violates our Government's promise to protect life, liberty and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America's cities," he continued in the memo.

The president has also called on Attorney General William Barr must develop a list of "anarchist jurisdictions" that "permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures" to restore order.

It also instructs the White House budget director Russ Vought to give guidance within 30 days to the "heads of agencies on restricting eligibility of or otherwise disfavouring, to the maximum extent permitted by law, anarchist jurisdictions in the receipt of Federal grants."

Mr Vought praised the memo in a statement.

"American taxpayers who fund the great programmes that our cities rely on deserve to be protected by their local city officials," Mr Vought said.

New York City receives about $7bn a year in federal aid.

Mr Trump specifically named New York in his memo, including Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He has criticised the city for not doing enough to stymie a recent rise in crime in the city. The city saw a 177 per cent spike in shootings in July compared to the previous year.

The New York City Council approved a $1bn budget cut to the NYPD's annual $6bn budget in the wake of the George Floyd protests.

"In light of this unconscionable rise in violence, I have offered to provide Federal law enforcement assistance, but both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have rejected my offer," Mr Trump said.

Cities may be wary to accept Mr Trump's help, as federal law enforcement agents sent by the president appeared to exacerbate the level of conflict when they were deployed to Portland.

Protesters in Portland claimed the federal agents amplified the violence in Portland by beating, gassing and abducting demonstrators. Eventually Mr Trump removed the federal agents from their original station - a federal courthouse that served as the centre of the protests - and moved them to a part of the city away from the protesters.

Mr Trump's memo also attacks the Democratic mayors of other cities.

"As a result of these State and local government policies, persistent and outrageous acts of violence and destruction have continued unabated in many of America's cities, such as Portland, Seattle, and New York," the memo said.

The move is one of the most stark actions Mr Trump has taken to impose the will of the federal government over the autonomy of state and local governments.

Republicans have long championed the idea of a "small government" and criticised federal over-reach into the affairs of the state through the use of federal mandates and regulations.

Mr Trump's orders break with decades of Republican ideological tradition.

Like economic sanctions levied against foreign countries, withholding federal funds from cities will likely be felt most by the most vulnerable residents of those cities who rely on social programmes, like public transportation and public housing initiatives.