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In today's issue:

▪ Trump touts DC crime crackdown

▪ Newsom signs redistricting plan

▪ Are firms’ AI investments paying off?

▪ Russia slow-walks Ukraine peace

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President Trump this week dominated the airwaves and optics in his roles as an urban crime fighter, peace-seeker, deal maker and leader of the Republican Party.

Congress ceded its summer stage to the president, who canceled his New Jersey vacation, booked an Alaskan summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and confided to reporters, “I like to fix things.” Russia and Ukraine still remain far apart, but Trump has skipped ahead to a political agenda that pleases his base.

“We’re having a lot of victories,” he told federal and D.C. law enforcers and National Guard members assembled by the White House to herald what the president described as four consequential days spent making “Washington, D.C., great again.”

“Let’s take care of these criminals,” Trump said to applause after motorcading in the Beast, his fortified limousine, to a U.S. Park Police operations facility in Southeast Washington on Thursday. “We’re going to put them where they have to be,” he added after inviting the uniformed agents, officers and soldiers to dine on hamburgers cooked for them by White House chefs, along with takeout pizza.

Trump said “everyone feels safe” now in D.C., adding he plans to “rebuild all of your parks,” replace signs in Washington he says “look like hell,” tackle broken curbs and rescue green spaces with sprinkler systems.

“I’m very good at grass,” the president told the law enforcers, “because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being I think anywhere in the world.”

The unprecedented presidential order on Aug. 11 that federalized D.C. police and the use of hundreds of National Guard troops from a handful of states is unpopular among a majority of the city’s 700,000 residents, many of whom say they value autonomy of governance regardless of their concerns about violent crime, according to recent polling.

The D.C. Police Union reported carjackings decreased 83 percent, robberies by 46 percent, car thefts by 21 percent and overall violent crime dropped by 22 percent in the week after federal control was announced.

Amid the crackdown, the Trump administration appears to be using the 30-day emergency to ramp up immigration enforcement within the District, targeting moped drivers and others in the city.

The thank-you events involving military troops began Wednesday with Vice President Vance in Washington’s Union Station, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, known for crafting Trump's immigration policies. Vance was booed by some protesters, while Trump’s motorcade back to the White House on Thursday sped past a few onlookers who made crude hand gestures.

But within the president's base, being tough on crime and on illegal immigration — while suggesting D.C.’s experience could be a model for federal action in other large cities — wins applause.

Trump on Thursday also celebrated what appears to be his successful push in Texas to redraw congressional district borders to gain five additional seats in the House. (More on the redistricting battles in Texas and California below.)

And Trump hailed another “big victory” on Thursday after an appeals court ruled he does not have to pay a $500 million civil fraud judgment in New York, which the judges said was “excessive.” The underlying fraud conviction, which Trump and his legal team are appealing, stands for now.

“It was a witch hunt,” the president said during his celebration with crime fighters in Washington.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), one of the president’s foremost adversaries, pledged to appeal.

▪ The Hill: Alina Habba, a former Trump defense lawyer before being named as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, has been unlawfully serving in that federal role since July when her interim term ended, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

▪ The Hill: A federal judge in Florida ordered that some of the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility be shut down for a lack of environmental reviews, dealing a blow to the administration as it ramps up its immigration crackdown.

Smart Take by Blake Burman

I spoke with former Vice President Mike Pence last night on a variety of issues, including his assessment of where the negotiations stand between President Trump, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Pence made it clear he believes it is time for Congress to move forward with sanctions.

“I really do believe at his core, Putin doesn't want peace,” Pence told me. “He wants Ukraine. And Putin will not be stopped until he is stopped and giving the president that Senate bill, giving him those secondary sanctions, even while he continues to vigorously pursue the diplomatic course, I think, is the most certain pathway toward a peaceful and lasting conclusion.”

The summer recess is almost over, while the discussions on the war progress to a new level. We’ll see how loud the calls could soon grow for Congress to give Trump a potential leverage point.

Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 Things to Know Today

1. The State Department is vetting more than 55 million U.S. visa holders for deportable offenses. The administration said it is also pausing the issuance of visas for foreign truck drivers in the U.S.

2. Famine has been confirmed in Gaza City and its surrounding area for the first time. Israel has denied the U.N.-backed report.

3. Wildfires could be raising local death rates by two-thirds, according to a new study.

Leading the Day

GOLDEN STATE RULES: Democrats

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