US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called Washington a "dirty city with rampant crime". On Wednesday, he again threatened to take control of the federal capital, which is in the hands of the Democratic opposition, AFP reported.
"We are thinking about it, yes, because the crime rate is staggering", he told reporters who asked him about the possibility of the White House taking control of the city's institutions, especially the police.
"We want a big capital that is safe, and we will have it" [...] The crime rate, the assaults, the murders and everything else [...] - we're not going to let this go, and it means calling in the National Guard, maybe very soon," Trump warned, referring to the federal military he recently deployed to Los Angeles, against the wishes of California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
A 1973 law grants Washington, D.C., its own legislature and mayor, elected by popular vote, as well as its own police force.
The U.S. Congress, where the District of Columbia is represented but without voting rights, has the final say on how the city is run.
The billionaire Republican from New York, who has never hidden his disapproval of Washington, has for years promised to "take control" of the city. on the capital.
"If Washington does not act in a coordinated and swift manner, we will have no choice but to take control of the municipality and run it properly", Trump said on Tuesday on social networks.
In March, the president even issued an executive order to make Washington a safe and beautiful city.
The city has a turbulent political and social history, and in the 1980s and 1990s - and high crime. But the number of crimes and violations fell by 26% in the first half of this year, after in 2024 crime reached its lowest level in the last three decades, according to official statistics.
"Presidents do not have the authority to take control of Washington. Congress will have to pass a law", said in "Ex" the district's representative in the House of Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton.