January 1, Trump Advisor Urges Real Fixes for Homeless Crisis

Wyatt’s Take

• Treating the roots of addiction is key to solving homelessness.
• Marbut says government money should fund recovery, not enablement.
• Trump acted where others just talked.

A former Trump adviser says government should focus on getting people off drugs and alcohol if we want to end homelessness. He believes that real treatment, not just easy handouts, is the solution.

Robert Marbut, who led the US Interagency Council on Homelessness under Trump, stressed that money needs to go straight to recovery programs that truly help people get back on their feet.

“We call them 72-hour holds, mental health holds or civil holds,” Marbut said on a podcast.

“So that’s part one. Part two is getting rid of these crazy so-called harm reductions. The idea that you use government money to fund drug use and somehow that makes drug addiction and substance use better…we could spend five hours just on how nutty that is.”

He pointed to a Trump executive order that supports treatment and recovery programs, calling it a gutsy move that other leaders only talked about.

“He had the guts to do what needed to be done,” Marbut said.

“A lot of people have talked about it, and he just went in and pulled the trigger.”

Trump announced new plans to crack down on crime and clean up Washington, D.C., saying the National Guard might step in if needed.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,” he said.

“This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back.”

He mentioned efforts already underway to remove camps from city parks and clean up slums.

Marbut argued that just feeling sorry for people, without demanding accountability, can make the problem worse.

“I’m a person of faith, and I’m also a conservative, but what I have found is that compassion without accountability leads to enablement, and if you just do compassion only without sort of working a program and treatment and recovery, you end up making things worse,” he said.

Homelessness in D.C. dropped by 9% with 478 fewer people counted this year. Still, Marbut criticized harm-reduction policies, saying they make addiction worse instead of better.

“The crazy approach that we are going to somehow facilitate drug use for people who are addicted to or have substance-abuse disorders has just made things so much worse,” he said.

For homeless veterans, Marbut says post-traumatic stress leads to addiction and the answer is to address that issue first.

“When you start with dealing with post-traumatic stress and addressing that, and mitigating those issues, then you move into housing and the job and the employment that that works,” he said.

“It’s common sense.”

Programs that give people another shot at real recovery make the difference for towns and cities across the heartland. Middle America knows it takes both compassion and clear rules to help neighbors get sober and stay working.

Wyatt Matters

Standing up for real solutions means getting to the source of problems, not just throwing money at symptoms. Main Street families know that tough love mixed with hope beats empty promises every day.

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