Trump Influencers Hardest Hit After He Calls for ‘New and Spectacular’ FBI Building in Washington, D.C.
“The FBI Headquarters should not be moved to a far away location, but should stay right where it is, in a new and spectacular building … They should be involved in bringing back D.C., not running away from it…”
In an inexplicable move, 2024 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose presidency the FBI attempted to destroy for over four years including well before he was even elected, used his Truth Social platform Saturday to call for a “new and spectacular” FBI building to be built in Washington, D.C.:
The FBI Headquarters should not be moved to a far away location, but should stay right where it is, in a new and spectacular building, in the best location in our now crime ridden and filthy dirty, graffiti scarred, Capital. They should be involved in bringing back D.C., not running away from it, especially the violent crime. An important part of my platform for President is to bring back, restore, and rebuild Washington, D.C., into the “crown jewel” of our Nation. We will make it crime free and GREAT AGAIN. The FBI should not be fleeing for safer, yet much less convenient, environs. It should make where they are now the safest place on earth! DON’T MOVE THE FBI!
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Dec 30, 2023, 2:15 PM ET )The FBI Headquarters should not be moved to a far away location, but should stay right where it is, in a new and spectacular building, in the best location in our now crime ridden and filthy… pic.twitter.com/YI9scrm2oU
— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) December 30, 2023
Understandably, Trump’s statement led to speculation as to why he’d take such a position considering not just the FBI’s ongoing war on the former POTUS but also their targeting of conservatives under the Biden administration:
*FBI raids Mar A Lago with CNN in tow.
Trump – "You know what you guys need? A great big new beautiful building and my full fledged support!"
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 30, 2023
Some speculated it may have something to do with this:
Ah. pic.twitter.com/G4xNigR3D8
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) December 31, 2023
I looked into it, and the plan at the time to build a new FBI HQ never came to fruition thanks in part to funding issues with Congress.
While it’s possible Vornado Realty, the “Trump partner” mentioned in the above Associated Press article, could bid again on the new HQ (which as it stands now will be based in Maryland), it’s unknown at this point if the process has even started or if Vornado would even be interested considering they have “largely pulled out of the D.C. market, having finalized its spinoff of JBG SMITH Properties.”
Relatedly, in October the DOJ’s Inspector General announced there was no evidence that the FBI based their Trump-era decision to remain in D.C. at the time on how it could potentially benefit Trump:
The Justice Department watchdog’s review centered around that shift in preference and whether concerns raised by congressional Democrats about then-President Donald Trump’s influence were valid. Democrats in Congress alleged Trump may have wanted to keep the FBI headquarters in Washington in order to avoid the possibility that a hotel might be built there — which would have competed with the Trump International Hotel a few blocks away. The Trump Organization announced in May 2022 that it had sold the hotel.
[…]
“With regard to possible influence by then President Trump or the White House, we found no evidence that the FBI’s decisions were based on improper considerations or motives,” the Justice Department inspector general wrote Tuesday. “Specifically, we found no evidence that, in making the decision to seek to have the new FBI headquarters remain at its current JEH site, Director Wray or others at the FBI considered the location of the then named Trump International Hotel or how then President Trump’s financial interests could be impacted by the decision.”
Trump’s surrogates and influencers took some heat in the aftermath of Trump’s post:
Trump Jr: It’s “pathetic” to give the FBI a new HQ
Trump Sr: Let’s give the FBI a “new and spectacular” HQ! pic.twitter.com/kcsl04Z7Gz
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) December 31, 2023
Not long ago, leading MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk made a viral hate list of specific members of Congress who wanted a new HQ for the FBI.
Now that Trump says the same thing? Dead silence.
Time to wake up folks. There’s no principle here. These people are lying to you. pic.twitter.com/OLJen3IfXl
— Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) December 31, 2023
Hey @LauraLoomer will you be shaming Donald Trump for supporting the FBI building?
Or will he cut off your paycheck if you do that? pic.twitter.com/xBDZz5MWBC
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) December 30, 2023
This is MAGA. Of course they explain away everything Trump says and does. Now it's great that he is rewarding the FBI. pic.twitter.com/hGJBUyV7V5
— Golden Phoenix (@Golden_Phoenix) December 31, 2023
Matt Gaetz: If you build the FBI a new headquarters, you are condoning and enabling their nefarious behavior.
Donald Trump: F that noise, build the FBI a new and spectacular building!
Trump's ability to cut his supporters off at the knees is truly incredible 😂 pic.twitter.com/SSSh4Or1Nj
— Unfiltered☢Boss (@Unfilteredboss1) December 30, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has repeatedly vowed to drain the swamp if elected president, also weighed in:
DESANTIS on Trump calling for the FBI to have a “new and spectacular” headquarters in DC:
“NO! That’s part of the problem with the FBI. They’ve become overrun with DC politics — you need to take it out of DC. That’s how you drain the swamp.” 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xMlRqBfq86
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 30, 2023
Donald Trump failed to drain the swamp so perhaps it is not surprising that he is seeking to deepen the swamp by building a massive new FBI building in DC.
Actually draining swamp requires taking power out of DC, not cementing power inside DC. https://t.co/Hu136bU5MI
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 30, 2023
And speaking of DeSantis, let’s imagine for five seconds what Trump’s influencers would be tweeting right now if it was DeSantis who called for a “new and spectacular” FBI building:
Can you imagine how Trump sycophants would react if DeSantis had declared that the FBI deserves a “new and spectacular” building?!
We could power half the country with the friction derived from their cognitive dissonance! pic.twitter.com/EKoU96RsSR
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) December 30, 2023
As confirmed by the Johnny Maga tweet above, Trump’s declaration about a new FBI building and having it remain in Washington, D.C., and with the agency having even more power is already being portrayed by some supporters as some type of 8D chess move. But I can think of no explanation that Trump can give to excuse away this bizarre call.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
Sadly, the history of Donald Trump is rife with unforced errors.
I chose him over Hillary because a loose cannon who lobbed artillery in my direction half the time was still preferable to having a laser designator on my forehead for four years.
He’s still that loose cannon.
that is a great description of the choice.
This bizarre statement is one of many that Trump has made but will be digested by the magas and then republished as to what he really meant. I don’t know if it is his age or personality that causes these breakdowns but they are frequent. These sorts of statements are parallel to his choices of posts or candidates. He makes some terrible choices and doesn’t seem to have learned a thing from his mistakes before. All I can say is that I’ll vote for him if he is the nominee but I don’t think he is right for the job at this point in our present mess. Payback is not a solution to our problem. Exposure of traitors and new ideas are the way to the future.
I want payback. Any vote against Trump is positive affirmation of all the evil that was done in this country to get Trump. That included weaponizing the very FBI you purport to be against.
And, you know, if what Trump just said didn’t evidence a total unawareness of this very issue, there wouldn’t be a problem here.
I believe this is Trump attempting to delay the FBI Maryland move to an expensive and safe/cushy location. Keeping the FIB in the sewer that is DC is punishment – keep the supposed law enforcers where the CRIME IS. I have no doubt Trump will dramatically alter that feral agency in his next term.
No, actually the planned move to Prince George’s County MD is the punishment! That county is looked upon by the DC Elites as a sewer that is beneath their dignity and there are potential lawsuits in the offing based on the decision not given proper vetting
Here is proof of what I said above! It didn’t take long for the magas to come up with a reason for this lame excuse.
“Winston was often right, but when he was wrong, well, my God.”
—F.E. Smith on his friend Churchill.
Bring on the my Godding.
Shouldn’t that be mostly right? Churchill was a very sharp cookie. Everyone has some warts, but some far more than others.
Overreaction. The norm of today. Why play that game? The outrage machine illustrated.
He said he wants to bring back DC. That is getting rid of the old, corrupt FBI and putting something new in its place, literally and figuratively.
Guess people need something to feed the fix. That’s why all this social medial garbarbage sucks, and why we are all at each other’s throats.
Happy New Year!
And where does he say the FBI will have even more power?
What would “more power” look like? They’re doing pretty much anything they damn well please now.
Agreed about the overblown outrage and endlessly replayed sound bites. That said this was an unforced error.
Demands for context and nuance coming from folks who use the phrase ‘Mean Tweets’ or ‘But Trump’ as their go to ka-boom, Mic drop moment for combating any legitimate criticism of DJT instead of an actual substantive rebuttal argument is a bit rich.
It is just an ordinary campaign flub that every candidate has on the trail. It isn’t a deal deal breaker for the general election even for those of us not fully on board the Trump Train, though a selection of Nikky Haley as VP which was floating around just might be.
This will be out of the news in 48 hours replaced by some new outrage or event.
I disagree with you that it was only a campaign flub. He hates the FBI and all those that run it and to make this comment isn’t just a flub. Just like backing Ronna McDaniel and Kevin McCarthy, no one can figure out what he was thinking. Before he was for moving ALL federal agencies out to the country of many different states. Now he wants his number 1 enemy to have a big new building?
That’s when he was listening to Bannon (who actually wanted to drain the swamp). Now that he is not listening to ANYONE who wants to drain the swamp, Trump is all about giving the swamp that HATES him shiny new digs.
This is Trump 1.0. He thinks he can “my generals” and “Pelosi is great” his way to political success. He’s inept, stupid, and just plain naive. “His” generals were almost all part of the Resistance, Pelosi impeached him (twice), and failing to investigate and lock up Hillary gained him no pass with Democrats. And if you don’t think Trump would bend over backwards to accommodate Democrats, you are smoking some seriously illegal stuff.
Trump would LOVE to be the “true” uniter and back amnesty, abortion on demand up until birth, and a zillion gun restrictions. The Democrats were so fueled by TDS that they didn’t even see the myriad ways he could be played. All I can say is let’s hope they don’t wise up if he wins in 2024 because Trump will sell this nation down the pike to get good press, to hear the media, especially the New York Times, sing his praises. He misses that, and if he had Democrat leadership reach out to him (instead of impeaching him), they’d have every single thing they want. Every. Single. Thing.
Well, Fuzzy, an interesting and novel take. But this time you are wrong. Yes, Trump is a narcissist but he knows the fundamental rule “you dance with the guy that brought you”. And there Dems know it too. If your opinion was correct they would be slobbering all over themselves to elect Trump instead of the total failure Biden.
“Trump is a narcissist but he knows the fundamental rule “you dance with the guy that brought you”
Gun owners can tell you that just isn’t true.
The sort of uncertainty he often leaves in making posts/statements like this is ‘the flub’. It allows folks to fill in the blanks of the ‘why’. In this episode why would a guy who has railed against the DC swamp want to provide a big new building for the enforcement arm of the swamp?
Some will seize it as he isn’t committed to drain the swamp and buttress that view with his endorsement of McConnell, McCarthy and McDaniel to the top leadership positions of the GoP. Fair or unfair leaving doubt/uncertainty for the why creates a void and folks will fill that void. Sometimes with plausible explanations and some less so. Creating an opportunity for your campaign opponents to define your own message is definitely a ‘flub’.
Error? To whom? The likely characters and provocateurs. Most people will never know or care.
The bigger question (for every agency). Does it need to exist at all? If the HQ needs to be in DC, what functions need to be performed there. The FBI probably doesn’t need more than 100 people at its HQ, regardless of location.
The FBI needs not to be.
They should make the building freakishly tall, and out of the cheapest materials, so that its structure lacks integrity. Then they can name it The James B. Comey Building.
Build the FBI complex in the most crime-ridden streets in DC, and force the FBI employees to live on those same streets.
And if you decide to build in some other state, same rules – build it in the worst neighborhoods, and force the FBI employees to live within walking distance.
Bonus points, force their kids into public schools in those same neighborhoods.
This looks like trolling to me.
Trolling who? MAGA?
Trump thinks tactically, One possibility not mentioned, is Trump holding out a carrot, to temper FBI scheming running up to the election.
46 dimensional chess is too much for me. I can’t vote on that basis.
Don’t know his plan but would guess that he believes some mid and lower level FBI agents are not hard core leftists.
If that is the case then he may not want to alienate them by forcing them to relocate their families, disrupt jobs for spouses, schools for children etc. That way he may have a law enforcement base to work with.
He still has the challenge to get rid of the top layer or layers of the FBI and security state which have proven that they will do virtually anything to block his agenda. He might as well reduce the number of enemies who are committed to overthrowing our Republic or at least not add to them unnecessarily.
It’s not about leftists or MAGA – it’s about the system of government power and incentives. If a crime ridden DC is unacceptable, in order for it to be fixed, it must become unacceptable for those in power (i.e., those with the guns and badges).
The other option is to let the city burn in crime, which, sadly, is the option many blue cities are choosing.
This is exactly why Trump will win the Republican primary and be soundly defeated in the general election, It’s not one unforced error. It’s hundreds of unforced errors.
As Trump intends, I suspect. He’s working to prevent a DeSantis presidency, always has been.
Like DeSantis errors, some of which have been whoppers.
I like how all the the foolish conservatives are mad Trump said he would not abolish the FBI, when these assholes had power through Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush Jr, and the first Trump administration and never once even dismantled the Department of Education, let alone the FBI. And these same conservative assholes couldn’t even move the embassy to Jerusalem, but you go ahead and mad Trump said he would preserve the FBI!
That’s not what he said. He said that he would build a big new headquarters for the FBI in DC and he is not saving anything. The FBI is the one agency that knew he was innocent but made up a fake tale to go after him and you think he wants to save them?
As a location, modern DC is horribly non-strategic due to it’s traffic saturation and infrastructure issues.
Why anyone wants to stay there to do serious work that’s not grift and graft escapes me.
They have a subway system and who knows how many more underground tunnels for whatever purposes. The true physical configuration of DC is surely top secret access controlled and I don’t know it — but I know the FBI can have an office building there and fulfill all legitimate FBI purposes (and then some). I don’t know why they need a new building anyway. Put them on a budget. Do a gut reno of their current place. How much space do they need to conduct interviews not-under-oath and write up sketchy 302’s?
Excellent trolling by Trump. PG country site is in a bad location and is a reward to Raskin and Hoyer. It is a pure play on his part. It also brings attention to how bad DC is now. Additionally, the sore loser VA are also up in arms over this.
Trump hit a sore spot and it is fun to watch the over reaction and give Trump the press time. As for a bone head move, I doubt that. Last time I was in DC they have gentrified the bad areas and moved everyone to PG County or SE DC. The ball park area is all new gentrified area that use to have murders on a daily bases. The waterfront has been redone and has high end restaurants. With Metro the traffic is not any different than any other city. What happened to the Smart City people. They should be loving this.
You have been played by Trump on this one. I am loving it.
He is right DC is a crime ridden, filthy city, and that’s just in the old Eff Bee Eye building
Not only is he wrong on this, but it’s not even true that the planned new building is in “a far away location”. I wonder, does he even know where it is? It’s within the DC area, right next door to a Metro and MARC station. It’s half an hour by Metro from the current location. That’s not “far away”, it’s too close. The FBI should be moved to a truly far location. If for some obscure political reason it must be in MD at all, it should at least be somewhere out in the boondocks of Western MD, certainly no closer than Hagerstown.
Perhaps the Trumpster is just being ironic. It’s a joke.
Perhaps his entire campaign.
I’ve been saying it for a long time. Trump is a moron. We need to move all the 3 letter agencies out of DC.
Trump is merely thumping the FBI on the head, folks! (Stacey doesn’t get Trump’s humor.)
The priority of the Trump Administration will NOT be to build a new HQ for the thugs, but to restructure the FBI into a force that actually defends American valises rather than destroy them.
TrumpSlurpers: “MAGA, mofos!” [wipe chins]