President Trump is ramping up his energy seize over Washington, D.C., on every little thing from town’s legislation enforcement to a takeover of its transportation hub and key cultural middle.
He’s known as for the loss of life penalty in D.C. homicide circumstances, cleared out homeless encampments, and is promising to repair every little thing from fences to lighting fixtures in what he calls a “beautification” of town.
On Wednesday, his Transportation secretary additionally introduced a takeover of managing Union Station, the place Nationwide Guard troops have been stationed for weeks.
It marked the newest escalation by Trump to encroach on town’s key establishments and landmarks, and that timing, in line with a supply near Trump World, is not any coincidence forward of Congress coming again.
“Trump is on very firm political footing on this issue. September brings its own set of challenges as shutdown talk begins to dominate,” the supply mentioned.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has up to now tried to painting a cordial relationship with federal officers. Bowser mentioned she spoke to Trump on Wednesday and expressed help for the administration’s administration of Union Station in addition to investing in metropolis infrastructure.
“I was reminded that the president’s interest in cities predates his time in office, and his knowledge of D.C. had significantly increased from the first time he was in the White House,” Bowser mentioned at a briefing.
The president introduced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Division earlier this month, deploying Nationwide Guard troops throughout town. Since then, he has touted the main success he thinks federal legislation enforcement has had in making the nation’s capital safer.
Whereas congressional Republicans have lengthy toyed with extending federal management over D.C., it was an assault on a former worker of Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity that proved a ultimate straw.
The Residence Rule Act permits the federal authorities to take management of the District’s police division, although the Trump administration has gone farther by sending federal brokers, together with these in immigration enforcement, across the metropolis.
Trump has signaled he hopes D.C. will go even additional on crime. He advised on Tuesday that he’ll push for the loss of life penalty in circumstances of homicide within the metropolis. The Supreme Courtroom nullified capital punishment in 1972 within the District, and efforts to reinstate it within the years since have failed, however the federal authorities can have the authority to push for capital punishment within the District.
“Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment. … If somebody kills somebody in the capital — Washington, D.C. — we’re going to be seeking the death penalty and that’s a very strong preventative,” Trump mentioned at a Cupboard assembly, arguing that he has “no choice” however to make the transfer in D.C.
Whereas he has threatened to enter different Democratic-run cities to curb crime, he has since known as on native leaders to ask for his assist as an alternative. He additionally mentioned on Wednesday that he was engaged on a criminal offense invoice with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.), with out giving additional particulars on what one would entail.
The Transportation Division on Wednesday introduced it could take over administration of Union Station, a significant transportation hub steps away from the Capitol that the division has owned for many years. Trump administration officers have cited Union Station as a supply of crime and homelessness within the metropolis.
“The president has been very concerned about crime in our nation’s capital. He wants a capital that is worthy of the greatest country that’s ever existed on the face of the Earth,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned of the transfer. “Which means a capital that’s clean, a capital that’s safe, and a capital that doesn’t have its parks overtaken by homelessness.”
Trump additionally has his fingers in different elements of town past legislation and order.
Trump earlier this month launched a assessment of the Smithsonian museums, taking problem with 20 displays that his administration has argued are too “woke.” The transfer has drawn criticism from opponents who argue Trump is trying to rewrite historical past.
The president has paid a number of visits to the Kennedy Middle this month, as soon as to announce the annual award honorees and share that he would host this yr’s awards occasion, and a second time to assessment potential aesthetic adjustments. Trump earlier this yr took management of the Kennedy Middle board and made himself chair as he sought to remake the cultural middle.
And Trump has indicated he plans to become involved within the trivialities of metropolis administration, telling reporters final week he would ask Congress for $2 billion for upgrades to beautify the District.
“So we’re going to be replacing medians, we’re going to be replacing much of the asphalt in the city, which is in bad shape,” Trump mentioned.
He additionally mentioned D.C. will likely be “maxed out in terms of beauty,” and he’s aiming to make native parks “look like Augusta,” referring to the Georgia golf course that hosts the Masters.
“We’re going to be redoing all of your parks. And it’s going to happen fast. It’s going to go up like a miracle,” Trump mentioned final week whereas visiting federal legislation enforcement officers.
However it’s not clear Trump’s efforts are completely welcome within the deeply liberal metropolis. Polling has proven a majority disapproves of Trump’s deployment of the Nationwide Guard in D.C., and a few metropolis residents have protested and heckled federal brokers of their neighborhoods.
“I think D.C. residents are doing what I would expect from D.C. residents,” Bowser mentioned Wednesday. “To be very focused on autonomy, local control and their neighbors. So I think D.C. residents are very concerned about each other, and they’re very concerned about their rights as Americans.”
