WASHINGTON — On Monday, President Donald Trump issued a warning to federalize Washington, D.C.’s police once more if they didn’t comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiatives.
Back in August, Trump took control of D.C.’s police force, stationing National Guard troops in the district under a 30-day emergency, which concluded last week. He stated on Truth Social early Monday that this action turned the city into “one of the safest” on the globe, boasting that it’s now bustling with businesses and has “virtually NO CRIME.”
“It’s been wonderful to see, but now, succumbing to pressure from the Radical Left Democrats, Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has overseen this criminal dominance of our Capital for years, has notified the Federal Government that the Metropolitan Police Department will cease cooperation with ICE in expelling and relocating perilous illegal aliens,” he expressed.
He cautioned: “If permitted, CRIME would escalate. To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY; I SUPPORT YOU, AND WON’T LET IT HAPPEN. I’ll declare a National Emergency and Federalize, if required!!!”
Mayor Bowser, a Democrat, raised concerns during the initial emergency about the administration’s immigration-enforcement actions and the atmosphere of “living in fear” among residents. With the emergency concluded last week, Bowser clarified to journalists that the presidential order obligated the mayor to allocate police resources for federal tasks, including immigration enforcement.
But, she said, “Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does, and with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does.”
Concurrently, Bowser noted that federal officers would stay in the district to “augment the public safety mission of MPD.”
Bowser’s office and MPD didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Several weeks into the federal takeover in August, Bowser credited the surge with lowering crime in the city, though she said that the presence of immigration agents and National Guard troops was “not working.”
Crime data collected by MPD showed that crime had decreased during the period of the federal takeover when compared to the same period last year. From Aug. 11, 2024, to Sept. 10, 2024, there was a total of 2,425 reported crimes, and there were 1,979 during the same time frame this year.
It’s not clear if Trump can unilaterally declare another emergency takeover of D.C. He would have needed congressional approval to extend the first one and Congress did not act.
The GOP-led House Oversight Committee recently advanced a series of crime bills that seek to codify a March Trump executive order to “restore safety and beauty” to D.C. The panel will hear testimony on Thursday from Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who has sued the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard.
Meanwhile, Trump announced last week that he was planning to send the National Guard into Memphis, Tennessee, as part of a similar crime-fighting effort. He had also been threatening to deploy troops to Chicago, New Orleans and Baltimore.
Democrats have questioned the president’s authority to expand his crime crackdown to other cities, including in Los Angeles, where he deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines in June. A federal judge ruled this month that the move broke a 19th-century law that bans the use of soldiers for civilian law enforcement.
