Trump says federal government should 'take over' local politics in DC

President Donald Trump said he was thinking about taking over local politics in the District of Columbia, a move that’d reignite controversy about the authority of the nation’s capital city to govern itself.

“The federal government should take over the governance of D.C. and run it really, really properly,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday. “We should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawless.”

Trump has toyed with the idea of overtaking local politics since his first term, but this desire has intensified in recent years following a massive post-pandemic crime wave that has since cooled. In 2023, homicides surged to a decades-long peak of 273 cases, though this figure dipped by 32 percent in 2024, according toD.C. police data. Trump has also cast homelessness in D.C. — which has modestly increased in recent years but still remains below pre-pandemic levels — as a choke point for the local government.

These issues prompted Trump to deride the city as one of “filth” and “decay” in a rare trip to the District in between his two terms in August 2023, in which he pleaded not guilty to four counts to overturn the 2020 elections.

Trump has several means to reshape local politics in Washington, unique to the city in a way a president cannot influence individual states. Congress — with the signoff of the president — can undercut the District’s political machinery by rejecting bills the city council puts forward and proposing their own. And if Congress and the president are aligned, they could even undo a 1970s-era law called the Home Rule Act which allows the nation’s capital to largely govern itself by electing its own mayor and city council.

“I get along great with the mayor,” Trump said Wednesday. “They’re not doing the job — too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns.”

Republicans in Congress have tried to override Home Rule for years, but these efforts have been toothless because of Democratic opposition in Congress or the White House. And even when Republicans gained control of the House and Senate during Trump’s first term, he didn’t follow through on his threats to reform the city, including one that would have allowed him to overtake agencies like the local police.

This time, a reenergized Trump is now saying he wants to tighten his grip on the capital city. And allies in Congress have already proposed legislation looking to undo the Home Rule Act.

Eliminating home rule — or even more actively rejecting individual pieces of city legislation — would drastically alter the power balance of the local and federal government. About two years ago, Congress blocked local efforts to decrease crime penalties, marking the first time in three decades that Capitol Hill officials successfully nixed local laws. (Congress has also passed riders blocking commercial sales of recreational marijuana in the city.)

Any move from the Trump administration to overtake the District would almost certainly inflame city residents, and Democrats more broadly, who have complained about the city’s governing structure. Many District residents and politicians have advocated for statehood, which would give Washington full representation in Congress and more autonomy from the federal government.

“I’m the duly elected mayor of the District of Columbia and the lawful CEO of the District of Columbia,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday about Trump’s latest remarks. “That’s just an unnecessary distraction.”

Topics

Ukraine should 'tone it down,' sign Trump mineral deal, Waltz says

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Thursday that officials in Kyiv "need to tone it down" after a fierce back and forth Trump and Zelenskyy.
ABC News - 23h
Trump threatens to withhold federal funds from Maine over transgender athletes

President Trump is threatening to withhold federal funds from Maine if it continues allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports in defiance of a recent executive order. ...
The Hill - 1h
A New, Trendy Move Is Taking Over the N.B.A.

Nearly every young perimeter player is feverishly working on adding the “Euro stop” to his game.
The New York Times - 2h
Murphy says he believes ‘the entire American political system is corrupted by money’

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) discussed the influence of money on the political system in the U.S., implicating his own party in the corruption he said it causes. “I think the entire American ...
The Hill - 18h
Judge allows Trump's government workforce cuts to continue

A federal judge will allow the Trump administration's cuts to the government workforce to continue after declining a request from labor unions for relief. The judge says he lacks jurisdiction and ...
CBS News - 4h
An alternative take on Trump’s favourite word

Seen from a different angle, would the US president still choose tariffs?
Financial Times - 13h
Under Trump, D.C. Faces More Federal Control, Fewer Federal Workers

The Washington region is bracing for a shock to the local economy from President Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to the government work force.
The New York Times - 2h
Trump Dismantles Government Fight Against Foreign Influence Operations

Dozens of employees who had been working to fight foreign interference in U.S. elections have been reassigned or forced out, according to current and former officials.
The New York Times - 20h
Woman uproots life to take job as federal worker, then fired in mass layoffs weeks later

Last month, Katie Sandlin uprooted her life in a small town in Alabama to accept a job at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. Three weeks later, before she even unpacked her ...
CBS News - 17h

More in Politics

Eric Adams's trial adjourned indefinitely as judge weighs dropping charges

The federal judge overseeing New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s (D) criminal case indefinitely delayed his April trial as he considers a controversial effort by President Trump’s Justice Department ...
The Hill - 16m
Nixon didn’t break the Constitution. Will Trump?

2025 obviously is different from 1973.
The Hill - 25m
Levin defends Zelensky, Ukraine amid sharp words from Trump

Conservative pundit Mark Levin of Fox News on Wednesday sought to defend Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky, who has come under days of criticism from President Trump over the Ukraine war. Levin ...
The Hill - 33m
Pepperdine University says Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series 'misappropriated' its basketball team

Pepperdine University has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery over Mindy Kaling’s upcoming show "Running Point,” alleging trademark infringement regarding its basketball ...
The Hill - 45m
Hamas’s failure to return Israeli mother’s body strains ceasefire

A tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been strained by outrage over Hamas’s alleged transfer of an unknown body to Israel in the place of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother who was ...
The Hill - 48m