As President Trump on Monday stepped up his fight with the District of Columbia, he signaled he could try to expand his efforts to exert federal control to other Democratic-led cities, citing what he described as out of control crime and squalor.
Trump announced during a press conference at the White House that he was declaring a public safety emergency in the District and subsequently taking federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department. He was also activating 800 National Guard troops to aid local and federal law enforcement as part of an effort to crack down on crime.
“We have other cities also that are bad. Very bad. You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is,” Trump said. “New York has a problem. And then you have of course Baltimore and Oakland, we don’t even mention that anymore. They’re so far gone. We’re not going to lose our cities over this. And this will go further. We’re starting very strongly with D.C., and we’re going to clean it up very quickly, as they say.”
The president’s comments came at the same press conference where his FBI director, Kash Patel, touted that the murder rate was on pace to be the lowest in modern history.
But Trump and the GOP have for years positioned themselves as the tough-on-crime party. The president has frequently used major U.S. cities, which are overwhelmingly governed by Democratic mayors, as a political foil, depicting them as overrun with crime, vandalism and homelessness.
While the law allows the president to impose his will on the District, Democratic leaders have already signaled they would push back on efforts to do the same elsewhere.
“Let’s not lie to the public, you and I both know you have no authority to take over Chicago,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) posted on the social platform X, responding to Trump’s comments.
“If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence. Sending in the national guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
The White House has in recent days surged federal law enforcement across the District, with agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, Secret Service and other agencies patrolling the city.
Trump on Monday used his authority under the Home Rule Act to take control of the city’s police department. He can do so for 30 days, after which he would need congressional approval.
The president also announced he was activating the D.C. National Guard, something he is able to do without local approval.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters Monday she was not given a heads-up about Trump’s plan to seize control of the city’s police department, and she said she “believed” the White House would activate the National Guard.
“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we are totally surprised,” Bowser said at a press conference.
Trump has long picked fights with Democratic cities, attacking mayors in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore and other areas and using them to boost his own image as a tough-on-crime president.
His outrage was a staple of the 2020 protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. His administration moved to clear protesters in D.C., he railed against rioting in Minnesota and he urged Democratic leaders in Washington state to take action after demonstrators set up an “autonomous zone” in Seattle.
Earlier this year, Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration raids, against the wishes of state and local authorities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who sued the Trump administration earlier this year over the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, argued the president had been laying the groundwork to exert greater power over the states.
“He was just getting warmed up in Los Angeles,” Newsom posted on X. “He will gaslight his way into militarizing any city he wants in America. This is what dictators do.”
FBI crime data released earlier this month showed violent crime decreased nationally in 2024 by roughly 4.5 percent compared with 2023. Data from the District of Columbia shows violent crime in the city is down so far in 2025 compared with the previous year and at its lowest level in years.
The White House issued a fact sheet aiming to bolster its actions, which noted the District had the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country in 2024 at 27.3 per 100,000 residents. The administration also pointed to the volume of crimes reported thus far in 2025, despite statistics showing it has dropped year to year.
And Trump highlighted a series of high-profile violent crimes in the city this year, including the killing of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), and the assault of Edward Coristine, a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer known by the nickname “Big Balls.”
While Trump and his administration can take a more proactive role in reshaping D.C., he would have a more difficult time doing the same in other major cities.
It is common for local law enforcement to coordinate with federal partners, but Democratic leaders are unlikely to request that the National Guard be deployed in their states. And Trump cannot unilaterally commandeer control of local police forces elsewhere.
Trump on Monday also railed against cashless bail, a policy adopted in some form by places including Illinois, New York and the District, under which a judge determines whether to release a defendant before their trial.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a staunch Trump ally, said she would lead legislation seeking to outlaw cashless bail policies. The New York Post first reported on Stefanik’s involvement, and she confirmed it on X on Monday afternoon.
Trump indicated on Monday he may hold the prospect of federal intervention over other cities but also left the door open to allowing local governments to make changes on their own.
“Other cities are hopefully watching this … and maybe they’ll self-clean up,” Trump said. “And maybe they’ll self-do this and get rid of the cashless bail thing and all of the things that caused the problem.”
There is also some political risk for Trump in appearing to overstep.
His poll numbers began to dip around the same time he deployed troops to Los Angeles.
Some Democrats also moved quickly on Monday to dismiss the announcement in D.C. as a “distraction” from negative headlines for the president.
“If the economy you promised to boost is lagging, w/prices rising…If the wars you vowed to end–‘very quickly’–are still raging…If you continue to hide the Epstein files & dangle a pardon for his accomplice…you need a BIG distraction!” former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod posted on X. “Introducing…The DC takeover!!”
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