Trump Wants to Take Over D.C.

By: Miriam Edelman

President Donald Trump officially wants a federal take-over of the nation’s capital. While speaking to reporters on Air Force One on February 19, 2025, Trump was asked by a reporter if D.C. should govern itself. Trump said:

I think that we should govern the District of Columbia. It's so important. The D.C. situation, I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful, and I think we should take over Washington, D.C. Make it safe. People are getting killed. People are being hurt. You have great police department there, but somehow they're not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. I think that the federal government should take over the governance of D.C. and run it really, really properly. And I like the mayor, I get along great with the mayor, they’re not doing the job. Too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns, and there’s tents…. It’s a sad thing, homeless people all over the place. We’ve gotta take care of the homeless, but we can’t have that in Washington, D.C.

NBC4 Washington said that February 19^th was the first time since Trump’s inauguration less than a month earlier that he called for a federal takeover. In the past, he had threatened D.C.’s home rule. Trump even called D.C. a “crime-ridden death-trap.” The Washington Post wrote: “No president in modern memory has made a point of denigrating D.C. as much as Trump.”

Just like recent Congressional bills that would end home-rule without having a plan for governance of D.C., Trump failed to say how the federal government would run the city. All he said was that he would like to take over D.C.

According to NCB4 Washington, Trump could unilaterally take over D.C. by reinstating the Control Board. The Control Board was mentioned in DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “Speculations of Local D.C. Leaders about the Nation’s Capital’s Future.”

However, NBC4 Washington also wrote that Trump could not take over D.C. alone. It reported that Congress could repeal D.C. home rule, but that vote would be very controversial.

Meanwhile, D.C. officials said that D.C.’s self-governance is going well. Later on February 19^th, seemingly in response to Trump‘s comments, D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote on social media:

“Washington, DC is a world-class city.

Here are the facts.” She also attached the graphic below:

D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said to WUSA9:

If the Federal government wants to come after us, I’ll be the first to point out how poorly they have been at running governments: failing to confirm the appointment of our judges, which impacts District crime, underfunding our police year after year (totaling over $83 million over the past four years), actually contributing to crime by prohibiting the regulation of recreational cannabis, failing to adopt their budgets on time, and constantly on the verge of a government shutdown.  We have a very good story to tell of how we have managed the city the past half-century. Not only is our Home Rule government far, far more responsive to our citizens than the federal commissioners ever were, but our government is far, far better – no unfunded pension system, adequately paid teachers, a 35% drop in violent crime last year, and a leader among cities and states in the struggle to create more affordable housing and fight against homelessness.

On February 20^th, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote on X:

Violent crime in DC reached a 30-year low last year and continues to decline. Family homelessness is down over 50% in the past decade. Our budget is balanced, our economy is growing, our small business community is thriving, and we are one of the most visited places in the country.

A federal takeover of DC would violate the fundamental principle of self-governance on which this nation was founded.

We will defend the rule of law, Home Rule, and the right to govern ourselves.

On February 20^th, on bsky, Schwalb wrote the same message below “We will defend the rule of law, DC Home Rule, and the right to govern ourselves.”

In appearances days after Trump’s comments, Bowser discussed the need for D.C. statehood. On February 20^th, Bowser took questions regarding Trump’s comments on Air Force One about the nation’s capital. She made key points, including:

We had a historic decrease in crime last year.

We have been methodical… in working on with the federal parcels and the non-federal parcels to get [homeless] people into shelter…, and we're going to continue to do that. We've had success. Year over year, we cut the number of homeless…encampments in half, the number of tents in more than half, and the number of people who are living on the street as well.

I think the important thing… to note is that it is… a Congressional issue….Home rule is done…by act of Congress, and it is in the hands of the Congress.

Most of the people in the Congress know this that…we are a well-run city. We balance our budgets. We have AAA Bond rating. We have the number one park system. We have the fastest improving urban school district. We have broken records for visitation to the District. We just hosted three national special security events, two snowstorms.

Getting bills, especially controversial ones, through both houses is never simple,… and so I would put…a change to home rule in that category. It would have to get through the House, and it would have to get through the Senate.

I[t] really doesn't make sense for small government people to want to make the federal government become the local government…, and we know that it has…worked in this city better under home rule than in times where we didn't have home rule, and so, we are a city, county, and state all at once….We have all of those functions.

People vote with their feet. We're the fastest-growing state in the nation.

I don't connect his [Trump’s] statements with anything in Congress….I think they're unrelated…, and I think what the president what said… he said many, many times on…the campaign trail. In fact, I think his comments were reminiscent of the campaign.

This is my opinion is that we have to fight every day for not being in this position, and the only way we're not in this position is when we become a state. As long as we have limited home rule in this city, yes you have elected officials, but as long as we have limited home rule, we're always vulnerable to the whims of the Congress or a president.

What I think D.C. residents know well, that's why they came out to vote over 80% for… D.C. statehood and for us to become the 51st state is because they understand that as long as we're not, we're subject to the whims of the Congress.

On February 21^st, at the National Press Club, Bowser said:

The case that we actually make is for DC becoming the 51st state. I know there's been a lot of talk about someplace else becoming the 51st state, but we are going to be the 51st state because what it means is all the discussion you've had about whether a president or a couple of Members of Congress can take over our limited self-determination… is because we don't enjoy the same rights as American citizens, but we are the same as American citizens. We pay taxes more than most more per capita…that any place… in America. We're larger than two states. We're literally down the street from the Congress, but we have no representation.

The question… for us is…how do we maintain the pathway to the 51st state, and why not?...We're Americans. We pay taxes. We go to war. We have all of the responsibilities of citizenship…, but we don't have all of the rights, and the unfortunate answer is it has come down to partisanship…, and we don't regard D.C. being added as the 51st state as a partisan issue…, but it is an issue of how to make our democracy… more perfect. So, in talking about home rule,… what it means basically is that we elect local officials, we pass our laws…, we have our own budget… that's sometimes a misconception out there in the world…. we take care of ourselves…, and we do so as I said, and we give more to the federal government than we get back.

Bowser also talked about areas that D.C. and the federal government can work together on. As on February 20^th, she discussed a possible Trump Executive Order on D.C. that might not exist. She also mentioned a “historic decrease in crime that we experienced in 2024.”

Like Bowser, Delegate Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) discussed the need for D.C. statehood in her response about Trump’s anti-D.C. comments. On February 20th,  Norton’s office released a press statement that referred to Trump’s recent comment as “derogatory” and “anti-democratic, based on misinformation, and belittling to the 700,000 residents of the nation’s capital.” It mentioned Trump’s expected upcoming Executive Order about the nation’s capital. It also discussed recent Congressional bills that would end D.C.’s limited home-rule and the House passing D.C. statehood legislation in 2020 and 2021. The press release quoted Norton:

-          “We have made significant progress in our historic march toward making D.C. the 51st state, and President Trump’s comments, a continuation of the anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans concerning the District of Columbia, despite their basis in falsehoods, is evidence of that progress.”

-          “These types of remarks are attempts to remove what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have.”

-          “The Revolutionary War was fought to give consent to the governed and to end taxation without representation. President Trump’s rhetoric runs counter to this history. D.C.’s population is larger than that of two states. D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and pays more federal taxes than 21 states. D.C.’s gross domestic product is larger than that of 15 states. D.C. residents have fought and died in all this nation’s wars. We deserve statehood.”

-          “I must also note that President Trump claims the D.C. government is ‘not doing the job’ on crime, but the Department of Justice has noted that violent crime was down 35% in 2024 and overall violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low.”

This latest Trump threat makes D.C. statehood even more important. D.C. residents must be able to govern themselves.