In Trump鈥檚 DC safety crackdown, conflict and compromise play out in tandem
| Washington
The images are stark: Onlookers yelling 鈥淕o home, fascists,鈥� as local and federal officers patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. People banging pots and pans at 8 each night as residents protest the added federal police presence. Marchers parading down Pennsylvania Avenue with all-caps banners saying, 鈥淭rump Must Go Now.鈥�
But one week after President Donald Trump announced a 鈥減ublic safety emergency鈥� 鈥� resulting in a temporary federal takeover of D.C. police and mobilization of the National Guard 鈥� the public reaction is not all one-sided. Some residents, in fact, support the added security presence, noting that D.C. . With protests ongoing throughout the city and more federal troops arriving, D.C. leaders are working to de-escalate tensions.
For Mayor Muriel Bowser, finding ways to cooperate with President Trump may prove essential. The president鈥檚 lawyers have already been looking into how to overthrow altogether for Washington, which would put it back under the federal government鈥檚 control. But even without that threat, the mayor is trying to ensure public safety and respect for local governance, analysts say.
Why We Wrote This
President Donald Trump鈥檚 mobilization of troops to stamp out crime in the U.S. capital has left Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser walking a political tightrope and drawing on her longtime working relationship with Mr. Trump.
The mayor has 鈥渟truck a nice balance between negotiating and leaning in when possible, and pushing back in strategic moments,鈥� says Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University. 鈥淭here is, of course, no exact rule book for how to respond to this.鈥�
Indeed, as the U.S. capital enters its second week with a federalized police department, Mayor Bowser is walking a tightrope. The city votes overwhelmingly Democratic 鈥� Mr. Trump got only 6.5% of the vote last November 鈥� and Ms. Bowser faces enormous pressure to stand up to him. But his second term has been all about wielding executive power, including that threat to eliminate local government.
New influx of National Guard troops
In recent days, several Republican governors have announced their agreement to send National Guard troops to Washington at the request of the Trump administration, with deployments ranging from 300 to 400 from West Virginia, 200 from South Carolina, 200 from Mississippi, 160 from Tennessee, 150 from Ohio, and 135 from Louisiana. They will join the 800 D.C. National Guard members already deployed by Mr. Trump. Their role will be to support federal and local law enforcement in addressing crime and homelessness, not to make arrests. Some will carry firearms, according to news reports.
Those moves are a violation of local sovereignty, say local opponents.
The Home Rule Act of 1973 gave the constitutionally established federal District of Columbia the right to elect its own government. Over the years, D.C.-federal relations have been largely harmonious, though there have been tensions, especially during public unrest. Efforts to make the district, an enclave of 700,000 residents, the 51st state have long been stalled in Congress.
In general, Ms. Bowser, in office since 2015, has had a good working relationship with Mr. Trump. They collaborated in securing a deal to build a new football stadium and move the Washington Commanders NFL team from Maryland into the district. But in some cases, when he pushes hard, she doesn鈥檛 hesitate to push back.
Ms. Bowser clashed with Mr. Trump in 2020 when massive street protests erupted after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. To memorialize Mr. Floyd and the civil rights movement his death sparked, she declared a block north of the White House Black Lives Matter Plaza, the words painted in large yellow letters on the street.
But after Mr. Trump鈥檚 return to office this year, the mayor had those letters removed under pressure from the White House, saying, 鈥淲e have bigger fish to fry.鈥�
Ms. Bowser appeared to draw on that history of managing relations with Mr. Trump on Friday, when the Trump administration attempted to install the Drug Enforcement Administration director as 鈥渆mergency D.C. police commissioner.鈥� Ms. Bowser鈥檚 team quickly sued, and a federal District Court judge threatened to intervene. A quick negotiation between the Trump administration and city officials resolved the specific issue.
On Monday, Ms. Bowser made clear her dismay over Mr. Trump鈥檚 incursion into D.C. law enforcement, both in press briefings and on social media. Two days earlier, on the social platform X, 鈥淎merican soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is .鈥�
At the same time, Ms. Bowser has been trying to get ahead of federal law enforcement whenever possible. Last week, after the Trump administration threatened fines and jail time for homeless people, she ordered the city to near the Lincoln Memorial.
Pushing back this time, however, is not proving easy.
鈥淪he鈥檚 in pretty much a no-win position, and she does not have a whole lot of power in this dynamic,鈥� Professor Dallek says.
A question of intentions
D.C. leaders have noted that if the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress were serious about improving safety in the nation鈥檚 capital, they鈥檇 restore the $1 billion in city funding cut earlier this year. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is chronically understaffed by almost a quarter, with just 3,100 officers out of a desired force of 4,000.
At the same time, federal law enforcement does not appear to be deployed in the city鈥檚 highest-crime sections. shows few additional officers positioned east of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8, two of those high-crime sections, which are also predominantly African American.
鈥淭hese extra police are just protecting tourists,鈥� says one angry resident of the Anacostia neighborhood in Ward 8, who asked not to be named. 鈥淭he problem is Black-on-Black violence.鈥�
Numerous columnists have pushed back on the idea that D.C. doesn鈥檛 have a crime problem, despite the decline in crime since 2023. Last year, violent crime declined, writes Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, but 鈥淭he city still experienced nearly ten violent crimes a day, nearly six robberies, nearly three assaults with a dangerous weapon, and more than 14 car thefts a day, in a population of just over 700,000.鈥�
鈥淎nywhere else in the industrialized world, the D.C. crime situation would constitute a national emergency,鈥� . 鈥淚t should in the United States, too.鈥�
Former Vice President Mike Pence, speaking Sunday on CNN, endorsed the president鈥檚 National Guard deployment in Washington. It was a rare moment of accord between the president and his former No. 2, who fell out over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Observers find no small irony in Mr. Trump鈥檚 support today for law and order after his pardon of some 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants earlier this year.
From museums to marches
Last weekend, the first since Mr. Trump鈥檚 announcement, mostly clear skies made for robust displays of protest, though numbering in the hundreds of people, nothing close to any of the city鈥檚 more famous marches. One couple visiting from Seattle said they had come to see museums and decided to join a protest at the White House afterward.
鈥淲hat Trump is doing is just complete insanity,鈥� says Marjorie Bunday, a music administrator originally from the D.C. area. 鈥淚 mean, I know he鈥檚 got the right to take over the police force of D.C., because the district is a very unusual place. But his threats to extend that to, you know, Chicago, New York 鈥� that鈥檚 absolute crazy talk.鈥�
Mr. Trump鈥檚 recent deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles, without the California governor鈥檚 approval, has also alarmed some observers. A federal judge is expected to rule on the deployment鈥檚 legality in the coming weeks.
