Trump threatens federal takeover of DC if capital ‘doesn’t get its act together’
WASHINGTON — President Trump again threatened Tuesday to bring the District of Columbia under federal control due to “out of control” crime in the nation’s capital.
“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 in a lengthy statement on Truth Social.
The president urged city officials to begin charging minors as adults for violent crimes beginning at age 14 — and “lock them up for a long time”.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together,” Trump wrote, “we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City.”
The president included a picture of a young man sitting on the ground with blood streaming down his face after being apparently assaulted by teenagers.
Former Trump ally Elon Musk said on X that a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee had recently rushed to help a woman who was in danger of being assaulted in her car — only to be beaten up by the gang of teenagers himself.
Washington’s juvenile arrest rate is nearly double the national average, with a mean of 2,235 such bookings per year between 2016 and 2022.
Locals regularly report feeling unsafe, both on the metro and on the streets, watching for groups of teens who have been known to threaten passerby and engage in crime.
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“We see a surge of young people engaging in serious crime. We are seeing kids as young as nine and ten getting involved in carjackings,” District At-Large Councilmember Robert White Jr. said during a town hall discussion in February 2024.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser attempted to address the rising juvenile crime concerns by imposing an 11 p.m. curfew for those under 18 — with some areas imposing restrictions as early as 7 p.m.
Trump initially threatened to regain control of DC back in February, telling reporters the feds were needed to help bring down crime and homelessness.
“I think we should take over Washington, DC — make it safe,” he told reporters on Air Force One at the time.
The District was granted the power to elect a mayor and city council by the 1973 Home Rule Act, but Congress does still exercise considerable authority over the inhabitants.
In 2023, Congress passed — and then-President Joe Biden approved — a law blocking a revision to the DC criminal code that would have lowered maximum penalties for certain violent crimes, including carjacking and armed robbery.
On July 24, Trump signed an executive order urging states and cities to place homeless people suffering from drug addiction and mental illness into “treatment centers.”
Trump has made similar threats against New York City should democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win the November mayoral election.
“If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same,” he told The Post during a cabinet meeting last month.
“But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places where we have to.”