Seattle Democrats can put up soccer nets, but under their leadership, the city’s still scoring own goals on public safety.

World Cup or Crime Cup?

President Trump says he’s not about to let the world’s biggest sporting event turn into a disaster, warning he’ll move 2026 World Cup matches out of cities that can’t guarantee safety. On his list of trouble spots? Seattle—where crime has become a sad running joke under Democrat leadership. Trump didn’t mince words, blasting Seattle and San Francisco as cities “run by radical left lunatics that don’t know what they’re doing.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell quickly fired back, bragging that violent crime is down 20% and that Seattle has hired nearly 130 new police officers this year. But reality check: an FBI-based study ranked Seattle the fourth-worst major city in the country for crime, thanks largely to its property crime epidemic. Translation: you might survive the match, but don’t count on your car stereo making it through the second half.

Harrell tried to shift the blame to Trump, whining about withheld federal funding, but that excuse doesn’t cut it. This is the same city that let downtown become a playground for rioters, tolerated open-air drug markets, and watched businesses flee in droves. Now, with the world watching, Seattle wants everyone to believe it’s suddenly safe? Please.

Trump made one thing clear: fans and athletes will be protected—if that means moving games out of Seattle, so be it. And given Democrats’ track record of treating law enforcement like the enemy while crime runs rampant, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if FIFA ends up booking hotel blocks in a different city altogether. Read more at Center Square.

Scalpels Down, Social Justice Up

Washington and Oregon’s premier medical schools just earned failing grades—not in medicine, but in their obsession with DEI politics over academic standards. According to the Medical School Excellence Index, Oregon Health & Science University tied for dead last in the entire country with a pathetic 18/100. The University of Washington scraped together 34 points, and Washington State limped in at 27—barely beating Oregon’s embarrassment.

Meanwhile, schools that still believe in things like merit and rigorous academics—NYU, South Florida—are excelling. The message is clear: in the Pacific Northwest, Democrats have successfully turned medical training into a diversity seminar with stethoscopes. And patients are the ones who will pay the price when ideology trumps ability in the operating room. Read more at Seattle Red.

Billion-Dollar Black Hole, But Sure—Blame Trump

Washington Democrats just watched nearly $1 billion in expected tax revenue vanish, and their first instinct was to blame Donald Trump. Never mind that they control the governor’s mansion and both chambers of the Legislature—or that they passed the largest tax hikes in state history.

GOP State Sen. Chris Gildon isn’t buying it. He points out that rent control has strangled housing starts, real estate taxes have tanked, tort liability is exploding, and Medicaid fraud is bleeding millions—all courtesy of Democratic policy choices. Republicans even offered a balanced, tax-free “Safe Washington Budget,” but Democrats swatted it down to chase their tax-first agenda instead.

Now with three straight revenue drops and a looming deficit, Democrats’ big plan is the same as always: raise taxes again and hope no one notices who created the mess. Read more at Seattle Red.

Lisa Brown’s Math Problem

Spokane’s latest audit flagged more than $170 million in misstatements under Mayor Lisa Brown—yes, the same Lisa Brown who left a trail of audit disasters at the Department of Commerce. This time, the “oopsies” included fake investment earnings, millions shuffled between funds, and pandemic relief money magically appearing and disappearing depending on how staff classified it.

The city’s CFO insists everything is fine, nothing to see here, and hey—at least they corrected the errors after getting caught. But this is becoming a pattern: under Brown’s leadership, audits keep finding chaos, sloppy oversight, and questionable relief fund handling. Her Commerce department even pushed money to a nonprofit led by a convicted criminal right after his arrest.

Democrats can spin it as “just reporting errors,” but $170 million in misstatements is a lot more than a typo. Spokane taxpayers are left wondering: if Lisa Brown can’t keep track of the books, how can she run a city? Read more at Center Square.

Governor on Vacation, Accountability on Hold

Gov. Bob Ferguson quietly slipped out of Washington for a two-week getaway, leaving Lt. Gov. Denny Heck in charge while his office scrambled to explain the vanishing act. The governor’s team insists he’s “in daily contact” and mixing in a little East Coast conference time, but lawmakers and watchdogs weren’t given a heads-up—and they’re not amused.

GOP State Rep. Chris Corry points out the obvious: when the state is drowning in budget shortfalls, crime spikes, and failing infrastructure, maybe the governor owes the public a bit more than radio silence and a belated out-of-office reply. Even folks on both sides of the aisle agree Ferguson’s disappearing act reeks of arrogance.

It’s one thing to need a vacation. It’s another to vanish without notice while pretending nothing’s wrong in Washington. Read more at Center Square.

Seattle: Soros’ Favorite Playground

A new Capitol Research report shows George Soros’ Open Society Foundations funneled more than $80 million into U.S. groups tied to domestic terrorism, extremist violence, and communist-aligned organizations. And of course, Seattle—always eager to play radical HQ—popped up as a key hub.

The Sunrise Movement alone pocketed at least $2 million in Soros cash, while the Ruckus Society got $400,000 to run “protest trainings” that included everything from faking IDs to dodging cops. Not surprisingly, these groups were front and center during Seattle’s 2020 riots that torched downtown businesses.

Democrats may pretend Soros is just a benevolent philanthropist, but in reality, he’s underwriting the street-level chaos their policies already enable. Read more at Seattle Red.

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