As Trump keeps threatening to take over D.C., Bowser keeps quiet
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Mayor Muriel Bowser has a go-to strategy when President Trump fires off a surprise D.C. takeover threat: sealed lips.
Why it matters: After the alleged assault of an ex-DOGE staffer, Washingtonians might reasonably wonder if the city is one high-profile crime away from forfeiting its local democracy.
What I'm hearing: Trump's missives to "FEDERALIZE" the District sound doomy, but Bowser isn't acting like the sky is falling.
- Bowser stuck to it after Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday that "we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City" if D.C. "doesn't get its act together."
- And, returning from personal vacation, Bowser remained mum on Wednesday after Trump floated bringing in the National Guard to combat crime "maybe, very quickly," at an Oval Office press conference.
What's happening: Publicly, it's a one-sided war of words. Every few months or so, Trump presses the red button (in July, it was: "We could run D.C."). Bowser ignores it. Nothing happens.
- Behind the scenes, the White House and Bowser administration have a "respectful and highly productive" relationship, per an anonymous Trump official talking to the Washington Post.
- Trump said last month his chief of staff Susie Wiles is "working very closely" with Bowser.
"[Bowser] knows a response would generate another story," said one local politico close to City Hall who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. "And finally, if she is critical, that would not be helpful to the city."
- "When you have no cards at all, none, zero, what are you going to do?"
Catch up quick: A police report says officers arrested two 15-year-olds from Prince George's County in a carjacking attempt that led to the beating of Edward Coristine, a former government staffer under Elon Musk famously nicknamed "Big Balls."
- Following the incident, Trump said D.C. crime is "totally out of control."
- Violent crime is declining from a pandemic spike, and it's down 26% so far compared to last year, per MPD data. But homicides have been trending higher than a decade ago.
Between the lines: Repealing home rule entirely would require congressional approval. The thinking in City Hall is that that's unlikely, given Bowser's warm relations with Republican House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, who has kept worse interventions on the District at bay.
- Trump could chip away at D.C. control by deploying the National Guard, or temporarily taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department.
- He could pressure the city in other ways, demanding daily updates on the city's affairs or pushing for a law to charge more violent juveniles as adults.
The bottom line: Bowser isn't entertaining those hypotheticals with the press. Her office declined to comment.
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