WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Aug. 25 aimed at requiring criminal suspects to post a cash bond to be released from jail while waiting trial.
Trump’s mandate threatens to revoke federal funding for jurisdictions that allow suspects to be released without posting a bond. Another Trump order instructs DC police to charge suspects with federal crimes and hold them in federal custody to avoid releasing them without posting a bond.
"We’re ending it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Both orders are part of Trump’s focus on policing before the 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s administration has already begun directing policing in DC, and he has blasted Democratic mayors and governors for crime policies in New York, Chicago and major cities in California.
Cashless bail is a system in which defendants are released from jail while awaiting trial based on their promise to appear in court, rather than by paying a specific cash amount.
