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Trump vs DC- “I think we should take over Washington DC — make it safe.”

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Trump says federal government should ‘take over' DC, backing congressional GOP push

President Donald Trump is throwing his support behind congressional efforts for a federal takeover of the nation’s capital, saying he approves putting the District of Columbia back under direct federal control. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump complained about crime and...
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Trump says federal government should ‘take over' DC, backing congressional GOP push​

“They’re not doing the job,” President Trump said aboard Air Force One. “Too much crime, too much — too many tents on the lawns — these magnificent lawns"​

By Associated Press and NBC Washington Staff • Published February 19, 202​


President Donald Trump on Wednesday threw his support behind congressional efforts for a federal takeover of the nation's capital, saying he approves putting the District of Columbia back under direct federal control.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump complained about crime and homelessness in the District, saying, “I think we should take over Washington, D.C. — make it safe.” He added, "I think that we should govern District of Columbia.”

Under terms of the city’s Home Rule authority, Congress already vets all D.C. laws and can outright overturn them. Some congressional Republicans have sought to go further, eroding decades of the city’s limited autonomy and putting it back under direct federal control, as it was at its founding.

Trump said he liked D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser personally but complained about the city's governance.

“They’re not doing the job,” Trump said. “Too much crime, too much — too many tents on the lawns — these magnificent lawns.”

He argued that he can't have sights of homelessness when he hosts foreign leaders in Washington. “You just can’t let that happen,” Trump said. “You can’t have tents on all your beautiful — your once magnificent plaza and lawns.”

News4 has reached out to the mayor's office and is waiting for a response.

Bowser called D.C. a "world-class city" in a post on X Wednesday night and listed some of the city's recent successes. She said the city had its lowest violent crime rate in three decades.



Bowser confirmed reports last week that Trump is poised to sign an executive order aimed at public safety and homeless encampments in the District.

Trump could also effectively eliminate home rule without Congress's help by reinstating the Control Board, an entity enacted in 1995 that oversaw the city's affairs.

Trump’s comments come as he tests the limits of presidential power. The administration’s efforts to cut federal jobs, eliminate entire government agencies and cancel spending approved by Congress are under review by judges. Earlier Wednesday, Trump said in a social media post, “LONG LIVE THE KING!” after his administration withdrew support for the Manhattan congestion pricing plan put in place by state and city leaders.



The DC takeover 2 Republicans in Congress proposed: the BOWSER Act​

Legislation proposed by two Republican members of Congress earlier this month would strip the D.C. government of its powers and elected leaders, including the mayor and the D.C. Council.

Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah, and Rep. Andy Ogles, of Tennessee, introduced the Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act, or BOWSER Act. The bill came as Bowser and District residents grapple with a head-spinning number of policy changes and job cuts enacted by the Trump administration.

The BOWSER Act would repeal D.C. home rule in one year.

Lee and Ogles gave a short list of reasons they want to wrest power from D.C. officials:
  • Crime in the District, including carjackings and homicides. While D.C. recently saw an increase in homicides for the first time in a while, overall violent crime continues to drop.
  • What they called D.C.’s “soft on crime” approach. They referenced the 2022 crime bill overturned by Congress and former President Joe Biden.
  • The federal bribery charge against former Councilmember Trayon White, who was just removed from the D.C. Council and awaits trial.
  • D.C. allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections. A law is in effect but faced challenges from the Senate parliamentarian and the U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation says nothing about who would run the city or how a transition would occur; it only would eliminate the current local government.

Lee introduced a bill similar to the BOWSER Act last year and it died in committee. But this time, Republicans have control of both the House and the Senate.

Crime, homelessness and graffiti: What an executive order on DC could do​

Trump is expected to sign an executive order affecting life in the District and wresting local control from local officials.

The executive order is expected to:
  • increase criminal penalties for some violent crimes
  • increase criminal penalties for some smaller, quality-of-life crimes, such as public urination
  • order the clearing of homeless encampments
  • order the removal of any graffiti from national monuments
"We haven't seen it, and we have had a briefing that I would call at the 30,000-foot level, and I'm not sure if it was complete. So, that's why I have asked to see anything that they would move related to the District,” she said. “And they have committed to working through it with us, to telling us what the intent is."

The mayor declined to criticize the executive order or provide any specifics about what White House officials told her.

"I am hard pressed to comment on any specifics other than, I know that the president is very focused on beautification issues,” Bowser said.
 
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Trump threads dominate BGOL more than any other topic. The mainstream media ratings are back to the level they were before the previous, pathetic administration.

@HNIC just needs to create a Trump sub-forum.

:smh:
 
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Bowser signals D.C. will paint over BLM Plaza after GOP threatens funding​

The mayor’s announcement represents a remarkable retreat from her defiant posture toward President Donald Trump during his first term.

March 4, 2025 at 6:55 p.m.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signaled Tuesday that the city would paint a new mural at Black Lives Matter Plaza outside the White House after a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill threatening millions of dollars in transportation funding if Bowser did not agree to erase and rename it.

Bowser’s announcement about what she referred to as the “evolution of the plaza” represents a remarkable retreat from her defiant posture toward President Donald Trump during his first term that led her to order the creation of Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Bowser drew Trump’s ire in 2020 when she ordered the slogan be painted in large yellow letters on 16th Street during historic racial justice protests outside the White House. Bowser’s move became a national symbol of resistance against Trump, who reacted by calling the mayor “incompetent,” and Republicans have taken aim at the plaza ever since.

Bowser’s decision on the plaza came after Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) filed legislation Monday to force D.C. to cooperate in erasing and renaming Black Lives Matter Plaza or else Congress would withhold millions of dollars in federal transportation funds.

The legislation would require Bowser to adopt the name Liberty Plaza and remove every mention of BLM Plaza from city websites and documents. If enacted, the legislation would put at least $185 million in transportation funding on the line this year alone in the event Bowser didn’t cooperate.

A spokeswoman for Clyde did not immediately respond to questions about whether Bowser’s announcement that the city would paint over Black Lives Matter Plaza would satisfy Clyde and whether he would still pursue the legislation.

Asked for her response to Clyde’s bill, Bowser said in a statement that her administration has decided to make Black Lives Matter Plaza part of America’s 250th birthday celebration, which includes a mural project inviting students and artists to paint a mural in each of D.C.’s eight wards. Black Lives Matter Plaza will be one location.

“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” Bowser said, before turning her attention to pressing economic issues in the city caused by Trump’s federal jobs cuts. “The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern. Our focus is on economic growth, public safety, and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.”

Her statement was silent on whether she would rename it Liberty Plaza and a spokeswoman did not immediately clarify.

The plaza is on 16th Street NW between H and K streets, and was the site of protests in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Bowser ordered the street renamed — and had artists and city workers paint the slogan before dawn — in June 2020, four days after federal law enforcement used chemical irritants to clear largely peaceful racial justice protesters ahead of Trump’s photo op holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Church.

Since Trump’s win in November, Bowser has taken a muted and conciliatory approach to the president, frequently avoiding critical comments about Trump’s agenda while looking for areas of collaboration, such as sprucing up federal park space or redeveloping underused federal buildings. D.C. officials have been wary of drawing Trump’s anger or drawing attention to areas of disagreement, lest he or Republicans decide to wield more power over the District, which under the Constitution is overseen by Congress.

Republicans, for example, have introduced legislation to repeal home rule, which grants the city the power to elect a local government, and Trump — though he said he had a good relationship with Bowser — said last month that the federal government should take over the city.

Bowser has chosen her words carefully when speaking about the president. For example, she was asked in her first public appearance after Trump’s election in November what she would do if Trump asked her to pave over Black Lives Matter. She avoided the topic, saying, “It’s public art, so I don’t want to get into a back and forth with you about a conversation we haven’t had yet.”

In introducing the bill, Clyde said the left “has allowed this deeply divisive slogan to shamefully stain the streets of America’s capital city for nearly five years.”

“President Trump is 100% right: we must clean up Washington, D.C. for the American people,” Clyde said in a statement about the bill, whose introduction was first reported by Breitbart. “I believe that removing BLM Plaza must be part of this critical effort.”

If Clyde’s bill were enacted, it would condition hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds that help D.C. maintain roads and bridges on Bowser’s agreement to the Liberty Plaza name change. Congress would withhold 50 percent of the federal highway money that D.C. receives every year until the plaza is renamed. In fiscal year 2025, D.C. received roughly $370 million in federal highway funds and expects to receive $1.6 billion over the next six years, according to the D.C. Council budget office.




 

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