En la capital de EE.UU., las paredes tienen voz. Desde que el presidente Donald Trump puso a la Policía bajo control federal y activó a la Guardia Nacional como parte de su campaña contra el crimen, los habitantes de Washington usan carteles, pegatinas y grafitis para demostrar un rechazo creciente a esa operación.

«En un momento tan duro para nuestra ciudad, es casi reconfortante que todavía se vea el verdadero espíritu del Distrito (de Columbia). Son estos pequeños actos de rebeldía los que dicen mucho», dice a EFE Trina, una maestra jubilada.

Basta un mínimo de atención a paredes, escaleras mecánicas, postes y señales de tráfico para notar los coloridos mensajes, que van desde un contundente FDT (siglas en inglés de ‘Que le jodan a Donald Trump’) y un «Liberen a DC» desplegado en un balcón, hasta un cartel al estilo Baksy en homenaje al «Chico de los Sándwiches» que se encaró con patrullas federales pan en mano.

El póster, que puede verse en barrios populares como Noma, Adams Morgan y Dupont Circle, juega con el emblemático «Lanzador de flores» del artista callejero, aunque en este caso el ‘proyectil’ es un bocadillo.

La obra refleja la resistencia de la capital a través de Sean Charles Dunn, un exfuncionario del Departamento de Justicia de 37 años, que enfrenta un delito grave por encarar a agentes fronterizos -que han incrementado el número de arrestos en Washington al compás de la militarización de la ciudad ordenada por Trump- al grito de «fascistas».

Dunn fue captado en un vídeo ahora viral mientras lanzaba un sándwich que rebotó en el pecho de uno de los efectivos, ganándose la ira de la Administración y el elogio de gran parte de la capital estadounidense.

«En medio de una toma hostil por parte del Gobierno Federal, demostrar rebeldía con la imagen de un sándwich de Subway es mejor que nada», explicó Deshonde, un residente de Noma, señalando los carteles que ocupan las paredes de la popular zona de restaurantes y bares de Union Market.

Washington no perdió tiempo para adoptar este símbolo de rebeldía. En una manifestación en contra de la operación federal podían leerse pancartas con «No te metas con D.C. o te ganas un sándwich» y «Un pequeño sándwich para el hombre… un gran gesto para la democracia».

El Distrito de Columbia entrará el lunes en su segunda semana desde que el presidente Donald Trump tomó el control de la Policía Metropolitana, desplegó cientos de agentes federales y activó unos 800 efectivos de la Guardia Nacional, citando una cláusula de la Ley de Autonomía que rige el autogobierno de Washington desde 1973.

El mandatario republicano insiste en que su «campaña para desterrar los delitos» se debe a la «ola de crímenes» que, asegura, afecta a la ciudad, donde se han realizado más de 600 arrestos, entre ellos detenciones de indocumentados, según la Casa Blanca.

Las autoridades locales, que han demandado a la Administración Trump, dicen en cambio que los crímenes violentos han disminuido un 26 % en el primer semestre de 2025 frente al mismo periodo del año anterior.

Aproximadamente ocho de cada 10 residentes en Washington se oponen a la toma federal de la Policía de D.C. y las patrullas de la Guardia Nacional, según una encuesta de The Washington Post y la Universidad George Mason de Virginia.

La ciudad no es extraña al activismo artístico. Desde el regreso de Trump han aparecido varias instalaciones efímeras que se mofan del presidente, entre ellas una llamativa escultura de bronce en forma de mesa de escritorio con un excremento encima para recordar el asalto al Capitolio del 6 de enero de 2021.

«Mantengamos a DC libre de fascistas», «Manos fuera de D.C.», «Trump debe irse ya», «¿Por qué los republicanos son tan sumisos frente a Trump?» o «Trump está en los archivos», en referencia a las pruebas del polémico caso del pederasta Epstein, están entre los mensajes que se leen en decenas de pegatinas y pósters repartidos por toda la ciudad, donde residen algo más de 700.000 personas.

Pintadas con palabrotas y denuncias contra miembros del Gabinete de Trump también se mezclan con instrucciones sobre cómo actuar en un encuentro con agentes de inmigración y una frase en español que asegura: «Todos tenemos derechos, no importa el estatus».

EXCLUSIVE – New Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Joe Gruters outlined his mission as he took over steering the GOP’s national party committee.

«The midterms are ahead, where we must expand our major majority in the House, in the Senate, and continue electing Republicans nationwide,» Gruters said as he addressed committee members moments after being unanimously elected chair at the RNC’s summer meeting, held this year in Atlanta, Georgia.

Gruters, a state senator and RNC committee member from Florida, who, until his election as chair on Friday, briefly served as the national party committee’s treasurer, is a longtime ally of President Donald Trump. His move to the RNC chairmanship cements Trump’s dominance over the GOP as it prepares for midterm battles next year.

And a month ago, Trump endorsed Gruters to succeed now-former RNC chair Michael Whatley, who stepped down as he runs for the Senate in battleground North Carolina in the blockbuster race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.

LONGTIME TRUMP ALLY TAKES OVER AS CHAIR OF REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

The ascension of Gruters to RNC chair is the latest sign of Trump’s complete control over the national party committee.

«This is the president’s party. This is the president’s vision, overall. The party fully embraces the president,» Gruters said as he and Whatley stood for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

TRUMP BACKED RNC CHAIR JUMPS INTO BLOCKBUSTER SENATE BATTLE 

Whatley, who Trump picked to steer the RNC a year and a half ago, noted that «we have transformed the RNC, basically the way that President Trump has transformed the Republican Party.»

Gruters has been a major Trump supporter dating back to the president’s first campaign for the White House. Gruters served as Florida co-chair Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Donald Trump cuts short an introduction by Joe Gruters, the-chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of Sarasota County, before Trump was presented as its Statesman of the Year, in Sarasota, Florida, on Aug. 26, 2012.  (REUTERS/Mike Carlson)

The Democratic National Committee, taking aim at Gruters following his election as chair, claimed that «Gruters and Trump will have a lot to bond over while they turn the Republican Party into even more of a personal propaganda machine for Trump.»

Republicans swept back to power last November, with Trump winning the White House, the GOP retaking control of the Senate and holding onto their fragile majority in the House.

But looking ahead to next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses House and Senate seats, the GOP will be defending their congressional majorities.

RNC CHAIR SAYS ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ FRONT-AND-CENTER IN GOP’S MIDTERM PUSH

A key part of the RNC’s strategy going forward is Trump.

«We’re gonna ride the president all the way to victory in the midterms, and we are going to win big,» Gruters emphasized.

Asked about the top three items on his to-do list as he takes over as RNC chair, Gruters said, «number one, it’s still election integrity. That’s the most important thing, protecting the vote. And it’s about winning the midterms.»

«It’s about going back to the fundamentals of registering voters and turning our voters out,» the new chair added.

Joe Gruters, who is taking over as Republican National Committee chair, speaks at the RNC’s summer meeting on Aug. 22, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Gruters also highlighted Trump’s sweeping GOP-crafted domestic policy bill, which the Republican majorities in Congress passed this summer along near-party lines.

«It’s our agenda,» Whatley said in a Fox News Digital interview last month, as he pointed to the massive tax cuts and spending bill that Trump signed into law on July 4.

The measure is stuffed full of Trump’s 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. 

It includes extending the president’s signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

By making his first-term tax rates permanent – they were set to expire later this year – the bill will cut taxes by nearly $4.4 trillion over the next decade, according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

The measure also provides billions for border security and codifies the president’s controversial immigration crackdown.

And the new law also restructures Medicaid – the almost 60-year-old federal program that provides health coverage to roughly 71 million low-income Americans. 

The changes to Medicaid, as well as cuts to food stamps, another one of the nation’s major safety net programs, were drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s tax cuts. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.

Democrats, for months, have repeatedly blasted Republicans over the social safety net changes. And they’ve spotlighted a slew of national polls conducted both  before and after the measure was passed into law, that indicate the bill’s popularity in negative territory.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But Gruters sees the new law as campaign ammunition.

«Every single Democrat in Congress voted for a tax increase on average everyday Americans,» Gruters argued. «And that big, beautiful bill has something for every single American, whether you’re working class, whether you’re a small business owner, everybody benefits, and we’re going to be able to ride that bill all the way to victory.»

One of Russia’s most decorated battlefield heroes was unmasked as the alleged mastermind of a brazen fraud scheme in which elite soldiers allegedly shot themselves — and even their own commander — to collect lucrative combat injury payouts, according to local reports.

Investigators allege that Lt. Col. Konstantin Frolov — nicknamed «the Executioner» for his sniper skills — not only fabricated his heroic acts but also helped his troops siphon nearly $2.5 million in a sweeping military fraud scheme, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. 

The outlet said a former brigade commander, Artem Gorodilov, was also implicated in the case. 

At least 35 officers in Russia’s elite unit, the prestigious 83rd Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade, reportedly sat out of combat and collected almost $40,000 each, the outlet reported. 

‘FAT LEONARD’ MASTERMIND BEHIND LARGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL IN US MILITARY HISTORY SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS

The 39-year-old commander was revered throughout President Vladimir Putin’s three-year war in Ukraine, boasting of surviving five minor and two serious wounds, Kommersant reported, adding that his alleged bravery earned him four «Orders of Courage» — one of Russia’s highest honors — along with two additional medals for valor. 

Investigators now allege those wounds were staged. Frolov ultimately admitted he had ordered his soldiers to shoot him deliberately, ensuring bullets missed his vital organs, according to the Russian report.

NAVY’S FORMER SECOND-IN-COMMAND CONVICTED IN HISTORIC CORRUPTION CASE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has led the Kremlin in a war against Ukraine for three years. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The scandal erupted last summer when a whistleblower alerted authorities, Kommersant reported. Frolov was arrested in June 2024, followed by Gorodilov a month later, the outlet said, adding that both now face charges of fraud. 

In addition, Frolov reportedly kept three captured pistols, a machine gun, magazines with ammunition, several mines and grenades, according to Kommersant. The colonel has been accused of bribery and illegal trafficking in weapons and ammunition, the outlet reported.

Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Lt. Col. Konstantin Frolov allegedly faked numerous combat injuries during Russia’s war against Ukraine. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

According to open data, Colonel Gorodilov was also charged with fraud on an «especially large scale,» the outlet reported.