WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would probably expand his crime crackdown to Chicago, intervening in another city governed by Democrats, and threatened to take full control of Washington, D.C., rather than only its policing.
Saying without evidence that violent crime was out of control in the nation’s capital, Trump deployed D.C. National Guard soldiers and federal agents on the streets last week with a mandate to reduce crime.
“It was horrible and Mayor Bowser better get her act straight or she won’t be mayor very long, because we’ll take it over with the federal government, run it like it’s supposed to be run,” Trump told reporters, referring to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Recent statistics, which Trump dismissed, show crime has declined in the US capital since a 2023 peak.
Washington is a unique federal enclave, established in the US Constitution and falling under the jurisdiction of Congress, not belonging to any state.
In 1973, Congress passed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, allowing residents to elect a mayor and council members.
Continuing his off-the-cuff remarks at the White House, Trump mused about extending his efforts to other cities. He has declined to explain how the federal government could intervene in local law enforcement in cities outside of the federal enclave of D.C.
“Chicago is a mess,” Trump said, deriding its mayor. “And we’ll straighten that one out probably next.”
Trump said some of his supporters in Chicago have been “screaming for us to come.”
“I did great with the Black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen,” he said. “So I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
As in Washington, crime, including murders, has declined in Chicago in the last year.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he took Trump’s comments seriously but has not received formal communication from the administration about federal law enforcement or military deployments.
The mayor said Trump’s approach has been “uncoordinated, uncalled for and unsound.” He added: “There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.”
New York City, also criticized by Trump, has reported a steady decline in violent crime in recent decades, and now has a relatively low murder rate among big American cities. Trump also threatened federal government intervention in San Francisco, another city governed by Democrats.
While the Republican president has cast his efforts as an urgent move to help residents feel safe again, Democrats and other critics say he aims to expand the powers of the president beyond the bounds of the Constitution and assert federal control over cities run by Democratic officials.
The US Constitution’s Tenth Amendment generally prevents the federal government from commandeering state or municipal officials and from intervening in states’ legal and criminal justice systems unless citizens’ constitutional rights are being violated.