‘Don’t worry, I am with you’: Donald Trump promises D.C. that he will ‘Federalize’ the city again after it refuses to work with ICE

President Donald Trump is once again threatening to federalize the Washington, D.C., police department if it doesn’t cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. This comes after a previous 30-day federal takeover of D.C. police, which Trump claimed made the city “one of the safest” in the world and led to a boom in businesses with “virtually NO CRIME”.

In a Truth Social post found by NBC, Trump expressed his dismay that Mayor Muriel Bowser, whom he described as presiding over a “violent criminal takeover,” has informed the federal government that the Metropolitan Police Department will no longer assist ICE in removing and relocating undocumented immigrants. Trump warned that if this cooperation ceases, crime would “come roaring back”. He assured the residents and businesses of Washington, D.C., with the promise, “DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!”.

Mayor Bowser, a Democrat, had previously voiced concerns about the administration’s immigration enforcement operations during the initial emergency, stating that residents were “living in fear”. As the federal emergency concluded, Bowser indicated that while the presidential declaration had compelled the D.C. police to provide services for federal purposes, including immigration enforcement, that is not the Metropolitan Police Department’s role. She stated, “Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does, and with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does”. However, she also mentioned that federal police officers would remain in the district to support the MPD’s public safety mission.

Trump wants to take over DC again

During the federal takeover in August, Bowser had credited the surge in federal presence with a decrease in crime in the city, although she also noted that the presence of immigration agents and National Guard troops was “not working”. Crime data from the MPD did show a decrease in reported crimes during the period of the federal takeover compared to the same period the previous year.

It remains unclear whether Trump can unilaterally declare another emergency takeover of D.C. His previous emergency declaration would have required congressional approval to be extended, and Congress did not act on it. Meanwhile, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee has advanced crime bills aimed at codifying a previous Trump executive order to “restore safety and beauty” to D.C. The committee is scheduled to hear testimony from Mayor Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who has previously sued the Trump administration over the deployment of the National Guard.

This situation is reminiscent of Trump’s recent announcement of plans to send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, as part of a similar crime-fighting initiative. He had also previously threatened to deploy troops to cities like Chicago, New Orleans, and Baltimore. Democrats have raised questions about the president’s authority to extend his crime crackdown to other cities, citing a federal judge’s ruling that a previous deployment of troops to Los Angeles violated a 19th-century law prohibiting the use of soldiers for civilian law enforcement.