One of the good things about being a cynic this election cycle is that I can just take things as they come. While I have every intention of voting for whoever the GOP nominee ends up being in 2024, I also have no qualms about disagreeing with someone on my team.

Enter Donald Trump's latest Truth Social post. For reasons that I can't explain, the former president came out in support of building the FBI a "new and spectacular" building. He also said that the bureau should not be decentralized but should be given an increased role in Washington, D.C.

( @realDonaldTrump - Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump - Dec 30, 2023, 2:15 PM ET )

The FBI Headquarters should not be moved to a far away location, but should stay right where it is, in a new and spectacular building, in the best location in our now crime ridden and filthy… pic.twitter.com/YI9scrm2oU

— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) December 30, 2023

At first, I thought the post might be fake, but a quick visit to his timeline on Truth Social confirms it's real. Let's just say that I believe Trump is completely wrong about this.

The FBI should not be given a new headquarters in Washington, D.C. Rather, any future Republican president should move to block funding for any such project and make every effort to downsize and decentralize the bureau. That includes trying to move it out of the nation's capital completely. To the extent that such can't be accomplished unilaterally, it should still be the official position of any GOP-led White House.

We are talking about the same FBI that has weaponized its power to persecute not just high-level Republicans like Trump, but also non-politicians like pro-life protesters and concerned parents. Heck, RedState reported back in October that the FBI was specifically targeting Trump supporters, even giving them an acronym.

If anything, the FBI should be forced to stay in the dilapidated, ugly building it's currently in until serious reforms are enacted. I don't mean promises of reform either. I mean tangible action being successfully taken and cemented. Until that happens, the idea of rewarding the bureau in any way, shape, or form seems insane to me. 

And again, I think the official GOP position should be to completely move the FBI out of Washington, along with severely reducing the size of its workforce. Certainly, I have no desire to see the FBI play a role in restoring and rebuilding the nation's capital. That's not their job anyway. They don't enforce local laws. They need less power, not more.

What makes Trump's comment even more head-scratching is that some of his most ardent supporters, including Charlie Kirk, have pointedly gone after Republican politicians for supporting the building of a new FBI headquarters. Now what?

These 16 Republican members of congress voted to fully fund the FBI and reward them with a brand new HQ in Washington DC

Here are the 16:

Robert B. Aderholt (AL)
Mark E. Amodei (NV)
Ken Calvert (CA)
Jerry Carl (AL)
Juan Ciscomani (AZ)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL)
Jake Ellzey (TX)…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 14, 2023

I don't get it. I don't understand the strategy here, and I'm not sure there is one. If Trump thinks he's going to earn the support of the FBI, he's severely mistaken. I would hope he comes to a different conclusion after thinking about this issue a little longer.