'Unsettling and unprecedented.' DC mayor criticizes Trump's police takeover

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President Donald Trump’s move to assert control over Washington D.C.’s police force is "unsettling and unprecedented" the city’s mayor said, while also indicating she will cooperate with federal authorities.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser disputed Trump’s justification for declaring a crime emergency in her city calling it a subjective “so-called emergency” and noting that the capital's crime rate has been trending down after a post-pandemic increase that peaked in 2023.

“We’re not experiencing a spike in crime but a decrease in crime,” Bowser said during an Aug. 11 press conference following Trump’s announcement earlier in the day, where he initiated a dramatic federal takeover of the city’s police force and also deployed the D.C. National Guard.

Yet the mayor acknowledged Trump’s authority under the Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government certain powers over DC governance. Trump cited the law in an executive order declaring he was using emergency powers to seize control of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.

“The Home Rule charter requires the mayor to provide the services of MPD during special conditions of an emergency, and we will follow the law,” Bowser said.

Potential legal issues surrounding the federal takeover are “under review,” Bowser added, but she added that the “plain language” of the Home Rule charter authorizes the president to take certain actions and says “the mayor shall comply.”

Trump has long criticized Democrat-run D.C. as dangerous and threated to take control of the city, a federal enclave under jurisdiction of the U.S. government. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 gave the city local governance, including an elected mayor and city council, but allows for federal intervention.

Trump’s move marks a dramatic escalation from rhetoric to federal control of a major municipal police force. He also is deploying 800 National Guard members.

While many Democrats are uneasy about the executive action and call it unjustified, Bowser said there could be benefits.

“The fact that we have more law enforcement presence in neighborhoods, that could be positive,” she said.

The mayor has taken a less combative approach to Trump during his second term after clashing with him in his first term. Asked if her tenor toward Trump would change with his recent move, Bowser said “my tenor will be appropriate for what I think is important for the District, and what’s important for the district is that we can take care of our citizens.”

Bowser said concerns about Trump’s actions they should be channeled into achieving statehood for DC and obtaining local control over the DC National Guard.

Contributing: Joey Garrison