‘I Like Them’: Trump Backs Controversial Flock Cameras Despite Protests
The short version: Trump's casual endorsement of Flock cameras brushes past real bipartisan concerns about warrantless tracking of every driver in America.
Our Take
When the President of the United States says he "likes" a mass-surveillance network while waving off the people protesting it, that's not a policy analysis — it's a vibe check from the guy who benefits most from law enforcement having more eyes on the road. Forbes deserves credit for even airing the friction here, because most coverage of Flock either treats it as crime-fighting magic or ignores it entirely. The reality is messier: these cameras log the movements of millions of innocent drivers, and the data doesn't ask if you're a suspect before it's stored, shared, and searched.
What's telling is that the pushback Trump is brushing off isn't coming from one side of the aisle. Libertarians worried about government overreach and progressives worried about policing abuses have found rare common ground opposing ALPR sprawl — and that coalition doesn't form over nothing. A presidential thumbs-up doesn't erase the documented cases of Flock data being misused, shared across state lines to skirt local privacy laws, or accessed without a warrant.
If your town is quietly bolting these cameras onto light poles, a celebrity endorsement isn't going to be the thing that holds anyone accountable — organized residents are. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, and if you want to push back, our take-action page has the tools to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Forbes, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.