Trump Threatens 'Complete Federal Takeover' of Washington, D.C. as Feud Over City's Crime Figures Escalates

President Donald Trump issued a warning that a “complete and total federal takeover of the city” could take place if Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to share, what he claims are, “false and highly inaccurate crime figures.”  “Washington, D.C. is safe again. The crowds are coming back, the spirit is high, and our D.C. National Guard and police are doing a fantastic job. They are out in force, and are not playing games,” said Trump via Truth Social in the early hours of Friday morning. “As bad as it sounds to say, there were no murders this week for the first time in memory.” Trump, who had earlier paid a visit to the police and military on-guard in D.C., went on to say that Bowser must “immediately stop” publishing the reports or “bad things will happen,” such as a complete federal takeover. Bowser and other officials, including D.C.’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb, have strongly pushed back against Trump’s labeling of D.C. as the “most unsafe city” in the U.S. On Aug. 18, a week after he announced the federal takeover, Trump—who maintains the government intervention was promoted by “crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor” in the capital—claimed that city officials had put forth “fake crime numbers” to “create a false illusion of safety.” Read More: Trump Puts D.C. Police Under His Control and Deploys National Guard In January, the D.C. Attorney General’s office said that crime in the city was at a 30-year low—a stat Mayor Bowser cited when Trump announced his emergency federal takeover. Furthermore, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) published data on Thursday, reporting that violent crime in D.C. was down by 27% in 2025 compared to the previous year. This comes after reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into the crime data. Trump himself said that D.C. was under “serious investigation” for publishing what he has deemed to be “fake” statistics. During his in-person visit on Thursday, Trump stopped by a Park Police Facility in D.C. An estimated 300 officers from U.S. agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. marshals, and the National Guard, gathered outside the facility as Trump spoke. The President told law enforcement officials that crime numbers “are way down” following the federal takeover, which is set to last for 30 days from its initiation. “It’s like a different place, it’s a different city… I’ve never received so many phone calls thanking me for what we’ve done in Washington D.C.,” said Trump. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who joined the President on the streets of D.C., said after the visit that no murders had been reported in the capital “because of the presence of law enforcement.” Bondi announced on Thursday that 630 arrests have been made and 86 illegal guns seized in D.C. since federal officers were deployed around the city. Reportedly, 251 of those were arrests of immigrants in the country illegally. A tense legal battle has unfolded following the Trump Administration’s intervention in D.C. On the night of Aug. 14, Bondi issued a directive appointing Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) chief Terry Cole as the capital’s “Emergency Police Commissioner.” D.C. officials rebelled against the motion, with Schwalb writing a letter to Bowser that same night, calling Bondi’s directive “unlawful” and instructing Bowser that she had “no legal obligation to follow it.” Read More: D.C. Sues Trump Administration Over Police Takeover and Rallies Against ‘Emergency Commissioner’ Appointment Schwalb followed up by filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on Aug. 15, stating he was “challenging the federal government’s unlawful attempt to take over the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department” in an effort “to ensure that control of MPD remains with the Mayor, the Chief, and the people of the District of Columbia.” “By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of D.C. residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb asserted in a statement accompanying the lawsuit. In an emergency court hearing overseen by district Judge Ana Reyes hours after the lawsuit was filed, the DOJ agreed to rescind its directive, no longer seeking to appoint Cole as D.C.’s stand-in police commissioner. Bondi said on Aug. 16 that she had “issued a new directive to Mayor Bowser requiring MPD to provide the services found necessary by my designee, administrator Terry Cole, to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities, regardless of any policies MPD might otherwise have.” Responding to the lawsuit, Bondi also accused Schwalb of opposing “efforts to improve public safety in Washington, D.C.”