Alec Baldwin Says Trump’s D.C. Police Takeover Is ‘Insane Move’ to ‘Deflect From His Inadequacy’

Alec Baldwin reacted with alarm to President Donald Trump‘s federal takeover of the Washington, D.C., police department and his deployment of troops to the city — saying they are examples of Trump’s “insane moves” to “deflect from his inadequacy.”

“This idea of federalizing the D.C. police department, it’s of such grave concern to me,” Baldwin said in a TikTok video posted Thursday.

The White House on Thursday said it would install an “emergency commissioner” overseeing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and revoked policies that limited officers’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials. On Friday, the attorney general of D.C. sued the Trump administration over the “unlawful” moves.

In the TikTok video, Baldwin wondered what the D.C. police situation would presage. “What’s gonna happen next? Is Trump going to federalize the New York City Police Department?” he said. “What’s after that? Chicago, L.A., Miami, Boston, and on and on? What’s after that? The NFL? The NBA? Is he gonna federalize them to take them over?”

“All he wants to do is deflect from his inadequacy by the bold, insane moves,” Baldwin continued. “The takeover of D.C. police, it’s not what I need.” The U.S. government needs to address more pressing issues, like Russia’s war on Ukraine and Israel’s military action in Gaza. “And after that, we have something else we have to get over with,” Baldwin said — by which he means Trump’s presidency.

Baldwin famously portrayed Trump for several years on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” leading up to and during his first term, triggering the president’s ire.

At the beginning of the TikTok video, Baldwin said he was having lunch at the farmers market in Amagansett on Long Island. “I don’t post much about Trump here,” he said. “We just have to wait it out.” The actor added that he was just “hoping to make it through to the next election in 2028.”

Baldwin’s comments came prior to D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filing a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s “unlawful” attempt to take over the D.C. police. The lawsuit targets Trump’s Aug. 11 executive order and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Aug. 14 order to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser invoking a never-before-used provision of the Home Rule Act to claim federal command of the city’s police force. A copy of the complaint is at this link.

“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of D.C. residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said in a statement. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”