Stephen Miller says only white hippies hate Trump’s takeover of DC. Poll shows nearly 60% of Black people do, too
President Donald Trump’s administration has argued that Black Americans support his takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department and deployment of the National Guard across the nation’s capital.
On Monday, Trump said in the Oval Office that he had heard from “African American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, Please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please.”
But a new poll from The Economist and YouGov showed that a plurality of Americans oppose Trump’s takeover of the police department, and a majority of Black people oppose it.
The Economist and YouGov surveyed 1,523 U.S. adult citizens between August 22, 2025 and August 25, 2025.
The survey found that only 38 percent of Americans support the takeover of the police department, and 59 percent of Black people oppose it. In addition, 54 percent of Hispanic Americans oppose the takeover.
That stands in contrast to the Trump administration’s defense. While the administration has ramped up National Guard presence in downtown Washington where most tourists frequent rather than many of the working-class African American areas of Southeast Washington.
Stephen Miller, the president’s deputy White House chief of staff and consigliere on immigration, said only elderly white people objected to the takeover when he, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited members of the National Guard at Union Station.
“This is not a city that has had any safety for its black citizens for generations, and President Trump is the one who is fixing that with the support of the Metropolitan Police Department, the support of the National Guard and our federal law enforcement officers,” he said, mocking protesters who heckled the administration officials.
“So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old, and we’re going to get back to the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington,” he said.
Men and women are divided on the takeover of the police department, with 44 percent of men supporting it and 46 percent disapproving of it while 32 percent of women support the takeover and 50 percent disapprove of it.
A plurality or majority of Americans across all income groups oppose the takeover of the police department. Only 34 percent of Americans making less than $50,000 support the takeover and 47 percent disapprove of it. Middle-income earners who make between $50,000 to $100,000 are the most split, with 44 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving. But 53 percent of people earning more than $100,000 oppose the takeover.
The only age group that supports the takeover are people between the ages of 45 and 64, where 44 percent approve of it and 42 percent disapprove. Young people between the ages of 18 and 29 overwhelmingly disapprove, with only 27 percent approving of it and 53 percent disapproving of it.
The president has since suggested that he would branch out beyond Washington, D.C. to take the National Guard to Baltimore and Chicago. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker loudly denounced the plan on Monday.
“Do not come to Chicago,” he said.
