MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace and The Bulwark managing editor Sam Stein on MSNBC on August 27, 2025

One journalist suggested to MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace that President Donald Trump wasn't totally in the wrong in sending the military to occupy Washington D.C. Wallace didn't let the point stand without interjecting.

During the Wednesday broadcast of her show "Deadline: White House," Wallace played a clip from a town hall that Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) hosted this week. Brecheen defended Trump's federal takeover of Washington D.C. law enforcement operations by telling assembled constituents that Trump was the "chief law enforcement officer" of the United States and that sending the military to U.S. cities was within his purview.

After the clip, Sam Stein — who is managing editor of anti-Trump conservative website The Bulwark — suggested to Wallace that it was important to apply "nuance" to what Trump was doing. He argued that crime was an important issue to Americans and that while Trump may be taking a political risk by using the military to address crime, there was a significant population of Americans who were in support of his methods.

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"I think Trump has a little bit of ground here," Stein said. "If you look at the polling data, people are somewhat supportive of the idea that there's crime in the cities, that it's out of control and that a heavier presence - even from the federal government – would be useful to tamp it down."

Stein went on to say that while Trump's proposal to have troops to patrol streets in Chicago and New York City was unlawful, he had more breathing room in D.C. given its status as a stateless city. He added that while it may be "politically disadvantageous," he was still touching an important nerve for Americans and pleasing his GOP base by focusing on crime. At that point, Wallace interrupted him.

"Let me just stop you there. I worked for Republican presidents. I worked for a Republican governor, I worked for a Republican attorney general of the state of California who ran on 'three strikes, you're out.' No Republican is for military on the streets," she said. "What Republicans are for are more cops. What Republicans are for are more prosecutors. What Republicans are for are more restrictions on how you get out of jail after serving your time or being charged ... The sliding toward the normalization of, 'Trump's on solid ground' is absolute horse doo-doo, Sam!"

"Trump is in outer space!" She added. "I've worked for Republicans longer than you've probably been able to legally drive, and no Republican has ever been for active-duty troops on the streets of an American city. ever."

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Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

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