WashingtonThe nation’s capital’s mayor was bombarded with questions, many of which were intended to elicit a negative response from her regarding Donald Trump, namely his recently revealed proposal to seize control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy the National Guard.
However, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., who has served three terms, mostly, refused to fall for the ruse on Monday afternoon. Calmly, she presented the city’s argument that crime has been down continuously and that the facts just do not support Trump’s alleged state of emergency.
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The capital city’s hands are tied, she added bluntly, and her administration has little choice but to comply. About Trump’s definition of a crime emergency, she said, “we might argue that, but his power is fairly extensive.
Her remarks followed Trump’s announcement that he would take over Washington’s police department and activate 800 members of the National Guard in an attempt to lower crime—the same crime that city officials emphasize is already significantly declining—hours earlier, when he was accompanied by the heads of the Justice Department and the military.
The mayor’s poise faltered toward the conclusion when Bowser mentioned Trump’s “emergency” and said, “I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster.”
Trump’s relationship with the city has not always been smooth.
Bowser and the MPD contend that violent crime in Washington has dropped to a 30-year low following a dramatic increase in 2023, despite Trump’s invocation of his plan by stating that we’re going to retake our capital. For instance, carjackings have decreased this year after declining by over 50% in 2024. However, juveniles make up more than half of those detained, and the Trump administration is divided on the severity of those penalties.
Bowser publicly sparred with Trump for a large portion of his first term in office. When he summoned a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to meet protests against police brutality in the summer of 2020, she resisted his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition. A block or so from the White House, she later had the words “Black Lives Matter” painted in enormous yellow letters on the street.
Bowser has been walking a tightrope in public for months during Trump’s second term, which is supported by Republican dominance of both chambers of Congress. He has focused on finding common ground with the Trump administration on matters like the successful attempt to return the NFL’s Washington Commanders to the District of Columbia.
When Trump finally received his military parade this summer, she watched with genuine anxiety for the city streets. The way the two CEOs’ power relations had changed was neatly illustrated by her decision to demolish Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year.
Since Trump has carried out months of what many D.C. officials had privately believed were idle threats, that tense relationship is now entering uncharted territory. Even among her lifelong detractors, Bowser has gained sympathy as a result of the recent impasse.
Clinique Chapman, the CEO of the D.C. Justice Lab, stated that we are a prime target in this power struggle. Chapman, who frequently criticizes Bowser for allegedly overpolicing our children through recent increases in Washington’s youth curfew, claimed that Trump’s most recent action had nothing to do with making D.C. a safer place. Power is all that matters.
Where the real power is
Bowser argues that Trump is in complete control and that her administration is limited to complying and doing its best. For a significant portion of Monday’s news conference, the native Washingtonian linked Trump’s retake to the District of Columbia’s statehood question. She stated that Washington, D.C., will continue to be susceptible to such takeovers as long as it is a federal enclave with limited autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act.
We are aware of how precarious access to our democracy is,” Bowser stated. “For this reason, you have heard me and countless other Washingtonians support the District of Columbia’s complete statehood.
In an emergency, the president may assume command of Washington’s police force for 48 hours, with the possibility of a 30-day extension, under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act. According to Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s chapter in D.C., no president has ever done this before.
“That should worry everyone, not just in Washington,” she said.
Trump saw the attempt to seize control of Washington’s public safety as a continuation of his tough-on-law enforcement stance. Despite without offering remedies to the underlying causes of homelessness or crime, he has a unique opportunity to further his tough-on-crime agenda because the jurisdiction of Columbia is a congressionally formed federal jurisdiction.
“I want to be very clear,” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated at the press conference for Trump’s decision. She claimed that crime in D.C. “is ending and ending today.”
The behavior is consistent with presidential trends.
Trump’s proclamation of a state of emergency is consistent with his overall strategy throughout his second term in office, which has allowed him to effectively rule by executive order on matters ranging from economic tariffs to border protection. He has frequently moved on while the legal system resolved the issues.
Earlier this year, an unexpected source endorsed Bowser’s claims of successfully reducing violent crime rates. In April, Trump’s initial pick for the position of U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, released a statement praising a 25% decrease in violent crime rates compared to the year before.
“Violent crime has significantly decreased in the District as a result of President Trump’s leadership and our Make D.C. Safe Again initiative,” Martin stated. We are demonstrating that intelligent rules and strict enforcement can improve community safety.
Despite congressional resistance, Trump gave up on getting Martin confirmed for the position in May. Jeanine Pirro, a former judge and Fox News commentator, was just confirmed as his replacement. Pirro, who was standing beside Trump on Monday, described his takeover as the action that is urgently needed to let criminals know that they would no longer get away with it.
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This report was written by Lindsay Whitehurst of the Associated Press.
