Trump Cracks Down on Homeless Encampments with Bold New Executive Order
President Donald J. Trump took decisive action Thursday to clean up America’s streets and restore law and order, signing an executive order that empowers local governments to dismantle dangerous homeless encampments and transition individuals into treatment facilities.
The order authorizes Attorney General Pam Bondi to override legal hurdles—such as activist court rulings and restrictive consent decrees—that have prevented cities from addressing the rampant squatting, drug use, and criminal activity plaguing public spaces, according to CNN.
Under the new directive, federal resources will be shifted toward rehabilitation and mental health treatment centers rather than allowing streets to remain overrun by chaos. The President has directed a multi-agency effort involving Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, HUD Secretary Scott Turner, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to fast-track funding for municipalities taking bold action against open-air drug markets, loitering, and street crime. The initiative also includes tracking registered sex offenders currently living among these homeless populations.
On Friday, President Trump described the plan in simple terms: “common sense.”
“Right outside, there were some tents, and they’re getting rid of them right now, you can’t do that — especially in Washington, DC,” the President said from the South Lawn.
“I talk to the mayor about it all the time, I said you gotta get rid of the tents,” Trump continued.
“We can’t have it — when leaders come to see me to make a trade deal for billions and billions and even trillions of dollars, and they come in and there’s tents outside of the White House, we can’t have that. It doesn’t sound nice.”
“I think it’s terrible, and we’ll have them removed immediately.”
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed that the order reflects President Trump’s longstanding promise to restore dignity and safety to America’s cities.
“By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need,” Leavitt stated.
Naturally, left-wing advocacy groups were quick to attack the move.
Donald Whitehead of the National Coalition for the Homeless issued a statement insisting that Trump’s order would “only make things worse.” He claimed the initiative ignores “evidence-based housing and support services” — despite the nation’s homeless population skyrocketing under precisely those failed policies.
The National Homelessness Law Center also blasted the order, calling it “dangerous and unconstitutional,” arguing it would lead to “increased policing and institutionalization” — without acknowledging that record homelessness has coincided with de-policing and lenient urban policies.
The order follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld an Oregon city’s authority to fine homeless individuals for camping in public. The justices affirmed that such laws do not violate the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections, giving communities across the country a green light to enforce basic public order.
Homelessness in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2024, with over 770,000 people living without shelter — an 18% increase from the prior year. According to HUD, that explosion has been driven by a combination of housing shortages, poorly managed migrant surges, and natural disasters.
President Trump made the homeless crisis a core issue in his 2024 campaign, promising to take the fight to the encampments that have overtaken once-thriving cities.
“The homeless encampments will be gone,” Trump told supporters at a North Carolina rally. “They’re going to be gone.”
“Oh, you have to see, you have to — some of these encampments, what they’ve done to our cities, and we’ve got to take care of the people.”