President Trump, said the federal government “should take over” management of Washington, D.C., because he believes its leaders are not reducing crime, cleaning up graffiti and dismantling homeless encampments, reports the Washington Post. “I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely, flawlessly beautiful,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Mayor Muriel. Bowser responded that the president’s impressions of the city are out of date and rooted in the “covid environment” that he left in 2021 at the end of his first term. Bowser said Trump’s comments, along with Republican lawmakers’ pending legislation to capture control of the city, are an “unnecessary distraction” that cause Washingtonians anxiety. Bowser touted declines in the city’s crime rate and homeless population.
The power wielded by D.C. officials is limited because of the city’s status as a federal enclave, which means that Congress can nullify local laws and can give the president control of much of the city’s public safety apparatus. The White House selects local judges and its top prosecutor; and the president, not the mayor, can deploy the National Guard. Trump made a point of vilifying D.C. during the 2024 presidential campaign, often invoking harsh and even crude language to describe the city as crime-addled, dysfunctional and dirty.
“People are getting killed; people are being hurt. You have a great police department there.” the president said on Wednesday. “But somehow they’re not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. I think the federal government should take over the governance of D.C. and run it really, really properly.” Trump is expected to issue an executive order that would target crime and encourage the beautification of the city. Crime in D.C., including homicides and carjackings, dropped sharply in 2024. The decrease followed a year in which violence soared to levels not seen in a generation. D.C. police say that last year’s downward trend is continuing through the first two months of 2025, with a 26 percent drop in violent crime, including robberies and shootings. Homicides are running above last year’s pace.
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