US President Donald Trump on Monday brought the Washington DC police department under direct federal control by invokng the Home Rule Act, following through on part of his threat of a federal takeover of Democratic-led cities — Washington and New York.
The move came weeks after Trump warned his administration would take control of New York City if Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, an Indian-origin state lawmakers, won the in November polls.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, calling him a “communist,” while Mamdani, who identifies as a “democratic socialist” and has built his campaign on welfare and subsidy programs, says Trump’s rhetoric is also motivated by him being Muslim.
“Trump-proofing” NYC is one of Mamdani’s core campaign slogans, which he advanced with a new initiative launched Monday. He has yet to respond to the DC takeover.
Trump’s team had reportedly been in discussions with Washington’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, about the law-and-order move since July, the same month Trump vowed to block Mamdani from leading New York.
“If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to,” Trump had said at the time. “I can’t tell you what yet, but we’re going to make New York great again.”
In response, Mamdani’s campaign accused Trump of treating “democracy like a suggestion” and insulting the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who voted for his leadership.
Calling the Washington law-and-order takeover a “historic action” and the day a “liberation day,” Trump said the move was just the start and that he would carry out a wider crackdown on crime. “We’re going to clean it up real quick, very quickly,” he said.
Washington DC has had a partical self-governing rule since 1973, with an elected mayor and council but the Congress takes care of its laws and budget. Trump has cited crime statistics to justify the federal intervention.
Meanwhile, Mamdani kicked off his “Five Boroughs Against Trump” tour in New York City on Monday, vowing to “save the city from Trump” by defending immigrants from what he calls unlawful detentions and possible deportations.
The 33-year-old Assembly member faces two fellow Democrats running as independents — current mayor Eric Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, whom he defeated in the primary and Republican candidate and conservative commentator Curtis Sliwa.
The last time when the US President spoke about a federal takeover of NYC, Mamdani’s office said: “Zohran Mamdani won with a mandate, receiving the most primary votes in New York City history and as mayor, he will not allow Donald Trump to tear this city apart.”
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