Trump Says He's Weighing Federal Takeover of Washington, DC [View all]
President Donald Trump said Tuesday hes weighing a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., spouting bogus claims about rampant crime in the nations capital, and hinted he could pursue the same with New York City.
Trump, who first floated the idea in February, brought up the takeover in the Oval Office when a reporter asked him who he thinks Republicans should support in the upcoming New York mayoral race. Trump said hes not getting involved but went on to slam Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani as a disaster and communist who would be bad for the city.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday hes weighing a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., spouting bogus claims about rampant crime in the nations capital, and hinted he could pursue the same with New York City.
We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to, Trump then said before disclosing hes already testing a plan to take over Washington.
Were thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want to. We want a capital thats run flawlessly, he said.
We could run D.C. I mean, were looking at D.C. We dont want crime in D.C. We want the city to run well, he also said, adding that the citys mayor, Democrat Muriel Bowser, is working very closely with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
We would run it so good, Trump said of the district. It would be run so properly. Wed get the best person to run it. The crime would be down to a minimal ― would be much less.
Violent crime in Washington hit its lowest point in 30 years in 2024 and is down 35% from 2023, according to the citys Metropolitan Police Department. That includes a 32% reduction in homicides and 39% drop in robberies. In 2025, crime rates have continued to plummet.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-federal-takeover-washington-dc_n_686d9405e4b09bd98fe3c489