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Trump said on Wednesday that he would soon issue an announcement about steps the federal government will take to rein in “out of control” cities.

The president said he would make an announcement next week “with the attorney general, the FBI and others concerning our cities, because the left-wing group of people that are running our cities are not doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing, and it’s not a very tough job to do if they knew what they were doing.”

Trump specificlaly cited recent protests against racism and police brutality in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis, before pivoting to discuss the recent gun violence in Chicago.

“We have other cities that are out of control, they’re like war zones,” Trump said. “And if the city isn’t going to straighten it out, if local politicians or in this case, let’s say this for political reasons, they’re all Democrats. They’re liberal left-wing Democrats. And it’s almost like they think this is going to be this way forever.”

A reporter asked if Trump intended to follow through on his Monday comment that the government would enforce change in the cities “even if we have to go in and take over.” The president deflected that question.

Trump’s comments came as Portland activists warned recent incidents involving federal law enforcement officers using unmarked cars to detain peaceful protesters may foreshadow the federal government’s actions in other cities.

The acting secretary of the department of homeland security, Chad Wolf, visited Portland, Oregon, yesterday and offered a hard-line message about cracking down on “violent extremists.”

As Portland activists expressed alarm about federal law enforcement officers using unmarked cars to detain peaceful protesters, Chad said in a tweet, “Our men and women in uniform are patriots. We will never surrender to violent extremists on my watch.”

Chad also shared photos of his trip to Portland, which showed messages in graffiti, such as “BLM” and “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

Chad defended the actions of federal law enforcement officers in Portland, saying, “These valiant men and women have defended our institutions of justice against violent anarchists for 48 straight days. We will prevail.”

Oregon activists have warned the alarming incidents in Portland may foreshadow the steps Trump will take against other cities that have seen protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Activists in Portland, Oregon, are expressing severe alarm about recent incidents involving federal law enforcement officers using unmarked cars to detain peaceful protesters.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports:

Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off. …

Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, while others have been arrested and released, including Pettibone. They also left one demonstrator hospitalized with skull fractures after shooting him in the face with so-called ‘less lethal’ munitions July 11.

Authorities have said the federal law enforcement officers are there to defend federal property amid the recent protests against racism and police brutality in response to the police killing of George Floyd.

However, OPB notes:

[I]nterviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren’t near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. [Two demonstrators] said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.

Portland activists have warned the strategy may indicate how the Trump administration plans to crack down on other cities that have seen protests in recent weeks.

“I think Portland is a test case,” Zakir Khan, a spokesman for the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Washington Post. “They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.”

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s lawsuit over the city’s mask mandate shows he is “putting politics over people.”

Speaking to the Today show this morning, Bottoms said, “This filing of a lawsuit is simply bizarre, quite frankly.” The Democratic mayor noted several other Georgia cities have required residents to wear masks, but the lawsuit is aimed at Atlanta and specifically Bottoms.

Bottoms added, “I don’t think it happenstance that this lawsuit came the day after Donald Trump visited Atlanta and I pointed out that he was violating city law by not having on a mask at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.”

Kemp has strongly urged Georgians to wear masks, and the Republican governor even launched a statewide tour to encourage residents to cover their faces and take other precautions to limit their risk of contracting coronavirus. But Kemp said Bottoms’ executive order overstepped her authority.

When specifically asked if she believed Kemp was motivated by politics, Bottoms replied, “I absolutely do. He is putting politics over people.”

Mike Pence is visiting Wisconsin today, marking the vice president’s latest in a series of trips to swing states in recent weeks.

According to the Trump campaign, the vice president will visit Ripon, Wisconsin, to deliver “a major address today where he will outline the dangers of socialism and the extreme Sanders-Biden agenda in the birthplace of the Republican Party.”

Trump has similarly sought to paint Joe Biden as an extreme socialist in an effort to tie him to politicians like Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

However, the president’s strategy does not seem to be working, likely in part because voters generally view Biden as more of a centrist than Trump.

According to a Politico/Morning Consult survey released earlier this month, only 17% of registered voters consider Biden to be more liberal than most Democrats, and 23% of voters in that poll said they viewed Biden as a moderate, compared to only 9% who said that of Trump.

The Cook Political Report has shifted the ratings of 20 House races in Democrats’ favor, as a series of national polls released this week showed Trump trailing Joe Biden by double digits.

Cook’s Dave Wasserman has more on the ratings change:

President Trump’s abysmal polling since the pandemic began is seriously jeopardizing down-ballot GOP fortunes. We may be approaching the point at which dozens of House Republicans will need to decide whether to cut the president loose and run on a ‘check and balance’ message, offering voters insurance against congressional Democrats moving too far left under a potential Biden administration. …

Republicans began the cycle hoping to pick up 18 seats to win the majority back. Now they’re just trying to avoid a repeat of 2008, when they not only lost the presidency but got swamped by Democrats’ money and lost even more House seats after losing 30 seats and control two years earlier. For the first time this cycle, Democrats have at least as good a chance at gaining House seats as Republicans on a net basis.

So even if Trump can somehow manage to hold on to the White House, it’s looking less and less likely that he will be governing with a Republican-controlled Congress, as he did at the start of his first term.

If Democrats can hold on to the House, it will make it much more difficult for Trump to pass any major legislation after winning reelection.

Good morning, live blog readers. This is Joan Greve in Washington.

Coronavirus cases in the US continue to break records, and a new poll out this morning indicates Donald Trump is losing support as a result of the alarming trend.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, 77,255 new cases were reported in the US yesterday, marking the first time the country’s daily caseload has surpassed 70,000.

Meanwhile, a new poll out this morning shows Trump’s approval rating on his handling of coronavirus continues to deteriorate.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 38% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, down from 46% in May and 51% in March. Disapproval has simultaneously climbed to 60%, up from 53% in May and 45% in March.

Trump is clearly aware he is in trouble, and his decision this week to shuffle his campaign staff shows he is worried about his re-election bid.

But if the president cannot change some minds on how he has responded to the pandemic, he may not have much of a path to victory.