President Donald Trump threatened to take “federal control” of Washington, D.C., unless the crime in the city was addressed and called for a change in D.C.’s law regarding prosecuting minors as adults.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that crime in the nation’s capital was “totally out of control” and noted that “youths” and gang members, some of which he said, are 14, 15, and 16-years-old have been “randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens.” Trump added that the minors have been involved in attacking and shooting innocent people while “knowing that they will be almost immediately released.”
“They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!” Trump said in his post. “The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14. The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs.”
“Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see,” Trump added. “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
During a press conference, Trump revealed that “somebody” from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had been “very badly hurt.”
“Somebody from DOGE was very badly hurt last night — you saw that,” Trump said. “A young man who was beat up by a bunch of thugs in D.C. Either they’re going to straighten their act out — in the terms of government, and in terms of protection, or we’re going to have to federalize and run it the way it’s supposed to be run.”
As Breitbart News previously reported, during a cabinet meeting in July, Trump floated a federal takeover of the District of Columbia, noting that crime would decrease.
In February 2025, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) introduced legislation entitled the “Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident (BOWSER) Act,” which would overturn Washington, D.C.’s home rule, the Daily Caller reported.
Elon Musk responded to Trump’s post, explaining that a couple of days ago, there had been “a gang of about a dozen young men” who tried to “assault a woman in her car at night” in the nation’s capital. Musk added that a DOGE team member “saw what was happening” and went to help the woman, and ended up being “severely beaten to the point of a concussion.”
“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize DC.”
In February, Trump also floated a federal takeover of the District of Columbia, noting that it could be run “with law and order.”
“I think that we should govern the District of Columbia … I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawless,” Trump said at the time. “And I think we should take over Washington, D.C. We could save people from getting killed. They have a great police department there. Somehow they’re not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. The federal government should take over the governance of D.C. And run it really, really properly.”
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