‘FEDERALIZE This City!’ Trump Threatens to Take Over Washington DC to Get Crime Under Control

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to take control of Washington, DC, for the third time in as many weeks, citing out-of-control crime in the nation’s capital.

“Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, repeating a common jab at progressive prosecutors he has long claimed are too soft on crime.

“They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now! The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these “minors” as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14. The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs. Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see,” Trump continued, adding:

If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Trump said in early July he was “thinking about” taking over the city, saying at a Cabinet Meeting, “We could run D.C., we’d get the best person to run it.”

“The crime would be down to a minimal, it’d be much less,” he added.

Axios reported at the time that Trump can’t simply sign an executive order to federalize the city, he would actually need an act of Congress to abolish the city’s self-rule. The report did not, however, that Trump could take over the city’s police department.

Trump made similar comments in late July, while discussing rampant homelessness in cities across the U.S. “We’ve got to get the mayor to run this city properly,” Trump said at the time, adding, “This city has to be run. I have the right to take it over.”