Trump exacerbates the tone against Washington: Mayor Bowser threatened to lose her office and spoke of a possible takeover of the capital. In the future, the national guard will patrol through the streets.
US President Donald Trump threatened to take over the federal capital Washington DC. Mayor Muriel Bowser should “be better careful”, otherwise she will not be able to take office for long, said Trump.
Trump had recently repeatedly described the situation in the capital as completely out of control and started a comprehensive raid, in which national guards and federal officials were deployed on the streets. According to Trump’s presentation, Washington is now “safe” again after this measure. People came back and the mood is good, the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump justifies the assignment with an alleged security “emergency” in Washington. However, the statistics of the police and information from the public prosecutor’s office of the capital district do not provide evidence of an increase in crime.
Mayor contradicts Trump’s representation
Mayor Bowser also contradicted Trump. Crime in the capital has decreased in the past two years, she said. You expect the 500 additional officials to lead to more arrests. However, this is only a small additional contribution to the work of the urban police.
Representatives of the city refer to statistics from the federal and city statistics, according to which the violent crime in Washington has decreased significantly since a high in 2023.
National guards should be armed
In the cityscape, national guards are now increasingly being seen in places where there are tourists on the road, but they are not a special hotspot for violence and crime. Almost 2,000 of them now patrol after hundreds of other troops from a number of republican guided US states have added this week.
The troops will soon be armed for their commitment in the capital. This was ordered by US defense minister Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon said. One reason for the measure was initially not mentioned. Last week, the Department of Defense had stated that the troops would not wear weapons.
Washington files a lawsuit against government
Unlike in the states, in which the governor decides on the use of the National Guard, the troops in the capital Washington are subject to the president. The posting of the national guard to the city is an extraordinary commitment of presidential power powers.
Critics accuse the US government under Trump to only demonstrate strength and thus want to distract from domestic political problems. Washington DC recently filed a lawsuit against the government and accused the president of exceeding his powers. The residents of the city repeatedly took to the streets to protest the presence of the soldiers.
Meanwhile, Trump announced that he may also want to proceed in other cities as in Washington. Next he wanted to continue in Chicago and then in New York City. However, he did not give more details.
