AVDD News Round Up
11 Aug 2025
Trump Moves Toward Federal Takeover of D.C., Possible National Guard Deployment
President Trump is threatening a federal takeover of Washington D.C., as the FBI is deploying federal agents to the city’s streets and Trump has said he may call out the National Guard today (Monday). Trump has compared his crackdown on crime in D.C. to his aggressive stance on illegal immigration, saying he plans to “immediately clear out the city’s homeless population and take swift action against crime.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office said it had not been briefed on any plans to deploy the National Guard to the city. The Mayor and D.C.’s City Council have largely taken a deferential stance toward Trump’s recent moves. Speaking to MSNBC on Sunday Bowser denied that D.C. was in the midst of a crime spike, but stressed D.C.’s “shared priorities” with Trump.
According to the Washington Post, the administration has authorized 120 FBI agents to work alongside D.C. police. The Post also reported that FBI field agents generally do not have authority to make traffic stops and the deployments have forced the Bureau to divert officers typically devoted to federal crimes to conduct local law enforcement. The Post also reported that the administration has not coordinated with the D.C. police department on how to best deploy federal resources.
Nvidia to Pay US Government 15 Percent of China AI Chip Sales
In a development described by most media outlets as “unusual”, Nvida and Advanced Micro Devices will pay the United States Government fifteen percent of their revenues from selling artificial intelligence chips to China, essentially making the federal government a partner in Nvidia’s business in China. As the New York Times puts it, “the unorthodox payments are consistent with Mr. Trump’s increasingly interventionist role in international business deals involving American companies”. The Wall Street Journal assessed that “It is unusual for companies to essentially pay for export licenses.”
Trump will undoubtedly tout the money that the deal will bring into the US government’s coffers, possibly as much as $2 billion over the next year. But many national security experts argue that the deal would boost China’s AI and military capabilities. Nvida CEO Jensen Huang and other technology leaders have been lobbying the Trump administration to reverse the restrictions.
The deal is another major flip-flop by Trump who had initially implemented restrictions on selling advanced AI chips to China. Trump also opposed allowing tiktoc in the U.S. during his first term due to national security concerns only to reverse course during his second, issuing an executive order instructing the Justice Department not to enforce a ban on the social media app and even suggesting that the US could take a 50 percent stake in a joint venture in it.
In a larger sense the deal is another example of the Trump administration’s micro-managing US trade and economic deals with US corporations and foreign countries. Critics have accused the administration’s strong-arm tactics as a form of political pressure and extortion.
Speaking of Extortion…
On Saturday California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that the Trump administration’s $1 billion settlement offer to UCLA amounted to “political extortion” which the state of California would fight. As is has with other universities across the country, the Trump administration has frozen funding to UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, because of pro-Palestinian student protests during Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
Newsom’s office posted: “Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system–freezing medical funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom…California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion…This isn’t about protecting Jewish students–it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
Several universities recently settled with the Trump administration, including Columbia University ($220 million) and Brown University ($50 million). Talks with Harvard University are ongoing.
Texas Imbroglio Update
Texas Governor Greg Abott (R), on Sunday threatened to arrest Texas Democrats if they returned to the state. Democratic lawmakers fled the state to prevent Republicans from achieving a quorum necessary to push through Republican redistricting efforts.
“If they want to evade arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years, and they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be, Abbott said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) vowed to retaliate against Texas’ redistricting scheme by allowing New Yorkers to vote on an amendment of the state constitution to allow for a new, redistricted map that would give Democrats more seats. Ca Governor Gavin Newsom has also vowed to retaliate in kind if the Texas redistricting is passed.
Speaking on Fox News Vice President JD Vance stated “The democratic system in this country is broken, because who you vote for doesn’t necessarily get reflected in who your representatives are.” Vance did not elaborate any further on how, exactly, the democratic system in America is broken.