As president, Donald Trump always had the right to federalize D.C., something is able to do for 48 hours before having to formally notify Congress.
He can also federalize the police force for 30 days without congressional approval.
Trump is now considering alternatives to congressional approval if he wants to keep the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under his control for longer than that.
We have seen a lot of talk about murders and violent crime being down in D.C., but that does not mean the city is under control, nor does it mean that crime in the aggregate is down.
Anyone who has ever been involved in law enforcement also knows that the numbers can be juked (and I am not suggesting that is what is being done here, just stating a fact) by reclassifying crimes.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund says that Trump is a very detail-oriented leader, which is not surprising, considering his hotel and real estate background. Sund also offered a bitter taste of reality regarding Trump using 2023 stats to justify the takeover.
Sund stated, “So when people talk about, ‘Oh, there’s big drop,’ there’s a drop from 2023 to 2024, but it’s still significant -- double what we had in around 2010.” He stated that there are areas of D.C. that are overrun with crime, adding, “So they’re going to deploy into these areas and really focus -- focus on crime, focus on your most violent offenders, your repeat offenders."
Sund just explained that situation better than anyone in this administration has been able to do, and that has been the downfall of the current White House. Trump has some great programs and ideas, but the communication aspect of them has been less than stellar, so I am glad Sund came forward to better explain things, with his background lending significant credibility to his statements.
Moving forward, Trump says he wants D.C. to be a “beacon” for other major cities in this country that are struggling with crime and violence.
Trump stated, “We’re going to need a crime bill that we’re going to be putting in, and it’s going to pertain initially to D.C.”
Trump then added, “We’re going to do something, and that’s going to serve as a beacon for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other places all over the country. Our whole country is going to be so different and so great -- going to be clean and safe and beautiful, and people are going to love our flag more than they’ve ever loved it.”
As I noted above, legally, Trump can only take over the police force for 30 days without congressional approval, but it sounds like he is looking for more time.
When asked about those 30 days, Trump responded, "Well, if it's a national emergency, we can do it without Congress. But we expect to be before Congress very quickly."
He added, “And again, we think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously. So we're going to need a crime bill. That we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to DC. We're going to use it as a very positive example."
I was so excited when Mayor Muriel Bowser was initially warming to this idea, but the challenge for Trump now is that Democrats will push the federalization as an authoritarian move. Congress approving the plan will help, but ultimately, it comes down to Trump getting in there, getting the job done, and getting out. One party is going to benefit greatly from this move; it just remains to be seen which one it will be.