Bulwark Takes - Sam's Vacation RUINED by Trump's Wes Moore Freakout

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Sam Stein and Andrew Egger take on Trump’s latest meltdown after Maryland Governor Wes Moore invited him to walk the streets of Baltimore and see the city’s progress on crime. Trump threatened to “take back” federal bridge funds and even floated sending troops into Baltimore. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BULWARKTAKES at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod

Hey guys, Sam Stein. I'm back from vacation, joined by Andrew Eger, who did not take vacation last week, did the week before. We're here to talk about Westmore, Donald Trump, the possible deployment of national guard to Baltimore and a little bit of like a true social hissy fit, I guess. I'll be honest. I've been kind of checked out. I haven't really paying attention to the news cycle all that much. So Andrew is going to anchor this one. And I'm just going to chime in with my thoughts when I have them. Andrew, take it away. Yeah, so let me, welcome back from vacation, Sam. Let me put this in a little bit of a context here. It's great to be back. I just want to be clear. I'm so happy to be back. I hated being on vacation,

checked out from the horror show that was the national news. Yeah, welcome. Welcome back. You get to be up to your chin in national news again right away. It was bad, man. I'd see some headlines here and there and I would just be like, oh my God, and then I'd just close. I close the tabs. I couldn't Okay. So this is a little dust up. Obviously, there's been a lot of, a lot of strife between Donald Trump and a lot of individual Democrats. This one's Westmore, Westmore of Maryland, who is one of the guys who he's been getting in sort of online fisticuffs with recently. Why? Explain to me why. Baltimore crime and policing, right? So Donald Trump has launched federal troops into the streets of D.C. He's been talking about wanting to do that in a lot of different Democrat-run cities around the nation.

And one that he kind of comes back to over and over again as like an example of just like a true city with crime, just really run amok, is Baltimore, Maryland. Now, West Moore is the governor of Maryland. And a few days ago, he responded to Trump with a letter. He basically said, last week you responded to my concerns about the deployment of National Guard personnel for municipal policing in Washington, D.C. by insulting me personally from the Oval Office. So I wanted to write, says Westmore, in order to clarify the root of my frustration and extend an invitation for you to visit Maryland, where we can discuss strategies for effective public safety policy. This is like the thrust of the letter. He's very polite. He's saying, look, you know, you're talking a big game about Baltimore.

And in fact, you've like cut a bunch of federal funding for us to like, you know, deploy city services and things like that. Despite these things, we've been making a lot of strides for crime in Baltimore. Violent crime is down in Baltimore. And I would invite you. Yeah, it's true. And Westmore says, I would invite you, Donald Trump, to come with me on one of my kind of walks through the city of Baltimore so you can kind of see this for yourself. So it's a little bit.

I mean, it's obviously a brushback, but it's a very different kind of brushback than we'd see from, you know, Gavin Newsom in the last few days where he's like, he's both pushing back strongly on the president's rhetoric, but also remaining kind of like. It's not an all cap tweet that's meant as a mockery. Right. I got you. Okay. Here's Donald Trump today on truth social in response. Governor Westmore of Maryland has asked in a rather nasty and provocative tone that I quote, walk the streets of Maryland with him. I assume he is talking about out of control crime-ridden Baltimore. As president, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk. Westmore's record on crime is a very bad one unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other blue states are doing.

This is a new thing for Trump, by the way. He likes to talk about this a lot now. It's come out of D.C. He started talking about this with D.C. first that that the numbers are just fake. So that's, we're just doing this from now on, I guess. If Westmore needs help like Gavin New Scum did in L.A., I will send in the troops, which is being done in nearby D.C. And quickly clean up the crime. He goes on and on and on. P.S. Baltimore is ranked the fourth worst city in the nation in crime and murder.

Stop talking and get to work, Wes. I'll see you then on the streets. Also, and this is another thing we should talk about here, because this is just a great little PS. Also, I gave Westmore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision, question mark, question mark, question mark, Thank you for your attention to this matter. Make America Great Again, President DJT.

So that's the latest broadside from Donald Trump to Westmore here. I have so many thoughts in this. One is, first of all, I had my first interaction, or I guess my first view of the outsized military and National Guard presence in D.C. today. I brought my kid down to the mall. And there was a, you know, I don't know who was, military, National Guard, whatever. a couple guys just patrolling walking on the mall looking bored honestly but that's neither here nor there in respect to this trump who is like the king of the churlish insults getting offended that westmore wrote this fairly anodyne letter is hilarious and ridiculous uh two is like that's not his money

to take back i know he's going to do it anyway he'll do it and whatever but like that's not his money congress appropriated that money for the francis scotky bridge president trump signed it into law you You don't, in a normal world. President Biden signed it in the law. I mean, it's all that happened before Trump even got in is what makes it even crazier, yeah. It's crazier. Whatever. You know, in a normal world, you don't rescind that money.

And I wish the Supreme Court would just kind of like, you know, settle this once in for all. Be like, you can't do that, but whatever. Here we are. He's acting like a child and saying, I'm going to take back your bridge funds. But what good would that do, Trump? I mean, you're going to actually hamper economic activity on the Eastern Seaward because he didn't like West Morris' letter. That's what so, I mean, that's one of the things, one of the 25 thing. This is all side show because what's really happening here is he's threatening to, you know, send military into major U.S. cities.

I mean, and it's funny, I was talking with something about this history. I don't know if you, I remember when this happened with D.C. And I don't know if you felt the same way. And Bill, Bill Crystal, our colleague, was very like, you know, early on being like, this is bad. Like this, I know people are trying to find some silver linings and maybe wait to see what happens. But like, Bill was just like, this is bad. This is like, you know, not just like borderline fascistic. It's like a playbook from a fascistic playbook.

And I remember in the moment big like, as Bill, like, you know, maybe Bill's overstating it a little bit. I'm going to, Bill was right. I honestly have come to the belief that Bill was right. And like the idea that they're going to send the military into Chicago into Baltimore is crazy. And yet I wouldn't be shocked if he did it next week. I wouldn't be shocked if he did it in a couple days.

And I wouldn't be shocked if he did it because Wes Moore wrote this anodyine letter saying just walk the streets of Baltimore. It's wild stuff. And I know I've talked a lot, but whatever, I'll talk because it's been a while. The other thing that kills me about all this stuff is like, you know, the White House and J.D. Vanson, whoever is like, well, you know, look at the numbers in D.C. It's really worked. And I know the pushback has always been, oh, it's only been 10 days.

Like, that can't be. Well, no shit, it's fucking worked. If you send in, like, thousands of National Guard troops and DEA agents and FBI officials, and, I guess, in the future U.S. military personnel, you better hope you get, like, an actual reduction in crime. Like, otherwise, they're not doing their job. But that doesn't mean it's worth it. That doesn't mean it's constitutional.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't have adverse effects. I mean, D.C. businesses are suffering right now. People are pissed. The city has this, like, really bad, bad aura right now where people are, like, legitimately scared to walk around. They don't like it. So, yeah, of course you're going to get a reduction in crime. Congratulations.

Like, that's the easiest shit ever to up those resources and get a reduction in crime. Doesn't mean it's good policy. Anyways, Westmore went on to say that in his face, the nation interview, and he made those points. And so I wanted to make them as well. Yeah. And let me just say one thing on that, too, which is that every city in America goes through this triangulation, right? I mean, these are municipal police departments that, for the most part, are charged with, you know, attending to crime in, every city in the nation, right? And at the policy level for every single city, there's that

triangulation. It's how much do we spend on policing? How sort of like pervasive of a police presence do we want? And how do we triangulate that against things like, you know, people's civil rights and all those sorts of things? And that goes double here because these are not municipal police. None of these people are people who are charged first and foremost with like the well-being of the residents of this city. These are all federal agents who report to the president who is elected by, you know, all the other states. And so it's like the, the D.C. residents barely get a say, you know, like, they're. Right. And D.C. sort of unique, right? Like, because D.C. has, it doesn't have its own governor. So, and they have the home rule. So obviously, Trump has some leeway

here. He's get 30 days under the law. And then Congress has to vote to extend it. He's just going to brush past that because water laws to him, right? But if you were to send the military into Chicago, which the Washington Post is reporting that he's planning to do, or the plans have been put together to do, I should say. I mean, that's, now we're in like a really bad place. Yeah. That would be the moment, if any city but D.C., where I think I would be totally in agreement with you and Bill, whereas, like, no, like, we're, we're off the map here, like, in terms of pure power deployments because of these. Why aren't you an agreement? Why aren't you an agreement about the D.C.? I mean, the D.C. stuff.

Like, what is it that has you a little bit more sort of reserved on it than building myself? Bullwork takes is sponsored by One Skin product. I've been slinging for a while now so much so that I've had, I think, a couple of friends that have caught strays for me about how they need to be using one skin, either for their face and their wrinkles or for their scalp and their thinning hair. I've taken a little heat over that. Sorry for the real talk. And if you don't want me coming after you like that, one skin is the way to go. Let me explain. One skin's proprietary OS1 peptide is the first ingredient proven to switch off the damage senescent cells that cause lines, wrinkles, and thin, crapey skin.

Not creepy skin, creepy skin. The creepy skin can be creepy, I guess. Free from over 1,500 chemicals and preservatives that can make skin red, irritated, or itchy their products or certified safe for sensitive skin. Dermatologist tested and approved by independent testing platforms. The cleanser and topical supplements can all be used with other products or treatments. and easily fit into your current skin care routine. OneSkin is world's first skin longevity company by focus on the cellular aspects of aging one skin,

keeps your skin looking and acting younger for longer. For limited time, you can try OneSkin with 15% off using code Bullwork Takes at OneSkin.C.O. That's 15% off, OneSkin.C.O with code bulwark takes. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. give your skin the scientifically proven gentle care it deserves with one skin. Just because of the unique status that you were gesturing toward of D.C. as a federal city that

by law he is allowed to do a lot more in terms of surging, in terms of federalizing the police department in terms of pushing various troops. And I mean, a lot of this stuff, I think, is terrible policy. And even like you could make the argument that some of it's illegal. And that's going to work it's right through the courts. But it's not the kind of like total in your face, like just brazen, screaming illegality that it would be if he were to deploy, you know, especially non-national guard troops in any of these other cities. And I think like the, so that's the big question right now for all of this, is how much of this is him talking a big game like he always does without any kind of like sense of what the actual laws are constraining his

rhetoric? And to what extent will he actually be willing to trample that down? And you're absolutely right that right now every, every indication from what they're saying is that they are gearing. up to do this as many places that they want to. And they see these fights as politically advantageous, even in, they'll go for it for any little thing, like this letter from Westmore, and that's a really dangerous place to be. Why do you think he responded to the Westmore letter? I mean, it's like there's plenty of provocations there for him to pick up on. Maybe it was just that he saw something on TV. Honestly, it could be that. But like, the letter didn't seem particularly notable, like walk the streets with me in Maryland. It's like the most, it's like the classic

political. In fact, Trump was supposedly going to walk the streets in D.C. chickened out, but he was supposed to do it. What do you think it was about Wes's letter that got his goat? Yeah, I have been wondering this exact same thing because it does seem sort of strange. Part of me wonders if there's just something about Trump where he always tries to drag everything down to this level. Like, plainly Westmore, in sending that letter, is trying to do politics on a more elevated plane than Donald Trump is, where things like the actual crime. statistics matter and you can you can persuade even like a super hostile super authoritarian president of the United States to like take your point of view into account and look at these facts and

these figures that he's trying to hand him and come see for himself and all like to do this sort of like hand in hand sort of thing like maybe maybe westmore doesn't think that Trump would actually like go along with any of that but plainly what more things not going to go along with of course but maybe Westmore thinks there's there's like an advantage at least in in like putting that forward publicly. Like, look, Donald Trump, come see for yourself. And Trump is, I mean, like, he only has the one speed, right? I mean, either he's buttering up an ally or he's, like, coming down with thunderbolts on an enemy, right? And I guess, like, the idea is you try to drag Westmore down to this level. And, uh, and who knows? I mean, like, I don't think Trump even,

like, thinks beyond it. He just kind of punches. And then he's like, that's going to work out well for me, because it always works out well for me when I punch. And the bridge stuff, the bridge stuff, uh, I mean, it's just so ridiculous. It's so psycho. It's like, oh, it's like, God, I was thinking about it today. I know this is totally unrelated, but it did, it did sort of, it reminded me of like the Chevron doctrine and how conservatives forever were like, well, we should, you know, take away the ability of executive agencies to interpret the laws and how they spend the money because that's just giving too much power to these executive agencies to like basically

interpret congressional statutes. And then suddenly Trump's just basically saying, you know what, this bridge money, Fuck it. I'll have the Department of Transportation cancel it. Like, whatever. And not a peep. I'm sure there's not going to be a fucking peep about it. It's just the way it is. But I don't know. For some reason, I was thinking about Chevron Doctrine today. I don't know. Obviously, the vacation was weird for me. All of these people who like just hate bureaucrats, like, there are some people who have like this actual principled objection where it's like Chevron Doctrine was making the executive branch too strong. But I think by and large, I mean, first of all, a lot of people just haven't really heard of or care.

all that much about Chevron doctrine. There's a lot of people who do care about Chevron Doctrine on the Republican side, who their specific objection was this gives the agencies, you know, the administrators too much power. And they're all Democrats, you know, like so it was and now, you know, Donald Trump's in there. He's cracking the whip. He's making these agencies do what he wants. And so let him do it. Let him ride. Let him let him cook. The most insane thing about all this to me is just like not just the fact that he's not allowed to pull that money, but it's like it's not his money, but it's not West Moore's Bridge. You know, everybody needs It's a big bridge to work

It's an extremely important bridge It's horrible when it collapsed It's a giant commercial Like I mean for commerce And just for transportation And like it's the only way to get from point A to point B in that part of the country And it's just like the idea that he just reaches

For any fucking thing That he thinks is like a political pain point And it just doesn't matter what it's for Or what it does or who else it hurts Or else it helps All he cares about is just wielding these things Against the people in his orbit And that's the whole president to you

That's just how he does everything. So it's really striking. It's crazy. It's crazy. I mean, it's really crazy. I mean, FEMA, not paying for any disaster really from blue states, because fuck it. They're blue states. And then going off for almost, not exclusive, but almost exclusively academic institutions

in blue states. Like the UCLA money, a billion dollars in funds for UCLA, it's crazy. But that's where we're at. I got to say one more thing. One more thing on this. Sorry. I know. It's like, you've been gone so long, Sam. I got so many thoughts. I got to get off my... Should I be the one with the thoughts? I feel.

Yeah, yeah. Come on, man. Hit me. We can be here for now. It's all right. Go ahead. This is the only thing. We did a podcast last week about Gavin Newsom and like his strategy for hitting Trump on all this stuff. What was your conclusion? You like it or not? I have not been super taken by the whole Gavin Newsom thing. But the one thing I will say for Gavin Newsom. Go listen to the next level. He's performative. He's just putting a mirror up to them. That's all it is. Yeah, definitely. But I think and there's something to be said for that.

But I think that this fight between Trump and Westmore shows why a lot of people find it attractive, right? Because because you see a guy like Moore who is just trying to be like polite, right? And like normal and like operate on a on a certain level that Trump is just never going to rise to. So why try? I want to summarize Westmore. I guess it's worthwhile to summarize Westmore's pushback here. He says rightfully so that policing in cities like Baltimore is more nuanced than send in the troops and that you have a whole host of programs, including uping resources for federal law enforcement, sorry, for local law enforcement, that contribute to reductions in crime. And he has the receipts.

They've had a 20% reduction in crime in Baltimore since his governorship began. And he's so Trump, he's like, look, the stuff you're saying is performative, right? Like you can send a National Guard, it might help, but it's not sustainable. It costs a lot of money. And it's not constitutional. And those things matter. And then on top of that, he said, look, come and see for yourself. Like, just walk with me.

I do this all the time. Come and see for yourself. Like, you'll see that there is a nuanced approach that is working here, which is totally fine and a completely acceptable type of response that you would get. And Trump just takes a sledgehammer to him anyway. So to your point, yeah, I mean, you can't reason with the guy, right? Like, that's not in the card. So why not try to, like, needle him?

I think there's a lot of people who take that exact train of thought. And they're like, yeah, so just beat him up all the time and troll him back and all that sort of thing. I think if you're Wes Moore, the point here is not actually to send this letter because you think that Donald Trump is going to take you up on it. The point is to send the letter to kind of show people that there is, in theory, another way to go about this than the total zero-sum politics only, like power-only way that Trump looks at the world. And I find it very compelling, the kind of West, the sort of Westmore approach to this sort of thing. It will be interesting, especially because, you know, both Gavin. Newsom and Wes Moore are like people who are in theory in the in the upper echelons when it comes to the 28 Democratic presidential field you know horrible as it is for me to even talk about that

right now but it's you know it's it's it's two very different approaches to the same problem of this horrible pig man that we have as president and it will be interesting to see as they kind of continue to develop these ah all right man well it's good to be back I think I'm not totally sure yet I'm trying to figure it out honestly it's so it's jarring to come back into it and it's going to be an adjustment for me but i'm glad we did this arian jriger author of morning shots myself sam stein managing under the bulwark thank you guys for tuning in subscribe to the feed really appreciate it and i'll talk to you soon Thank you.

Thank you.