Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump We promise new steps to tackle Washington’s homelessness and crimeurges the city’s mayor to express concern about the potential use of the National Guard and patrol the streets of the country’s capital.
Trump wrote in a social media post that he planned a White House press conference at 10am Monday to discuss his plan to “make the District of Columbia safer and more beautiful than ever.”
“Homeless people have to leave immediately,” Trump wrote on Sunday. “We give you a place to stay, but you’re far from the capital. Criminals, you don’t have to move. We’ll put you in prison where you belong.”
Republican President last week Instructed federal law enforcement agencies An option to “expand as needed” to increase its presence in Washington for seven days.
On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, FBI and former US s service 120 officers and agents Supporting Washington.
Last week, Trump said he was considering ways the federal government could take control of Washington, claiming that cities are “silly” these days. assault Famous members of Government Efficiency Bureau.
The move said Trump is considering including bringing in the DC National Guard.
Mayor Muriel Bowser questioned the effectiveness of using security guards to enforce city laws, saying the federal government could far more help in funding more prosecutors and filling 15 vacancy in DC Superior Court.
Bowser cannot activate herself, but she can submit requests to the pentagon.
“I don’t think that’s the most efficient use of our security guards,” she said Sunday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”
Bowser has been her first public comment since Trump began posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has been declining since its decline. It will rise in 2023. Trump’s weekend post described the district as “one of the most dangerous cities in the world.”
In Bowser’s case, “Comparisons with war-torn countries are hyperbolic and false.”
Police statistics Compared to this period in 2024, all showing murders, robberies and robberies this year are declining. Overall violent crime has fallen by 26% compared to this time a year ago.
Trump did not provide details on true social posts over the weekend about possible new actions to address crime levels that he claims are dangerous to citizens, tourists and workers. The White House declined to provide additional details regarding Monday’s announcement.
The police department and mayor’s office did not answer questions about what Trump would do next.
The president criticized the district as being full of “tents, squalols, filth and crime,” and he appears to have been triggered by an attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucratic cut effort known as Doge. Police arrested two 15-year-old children for attempted carjacking and said they were looking for someone else.
“This has to be the best running location in the country, not the worst running location in the country,” Trump said Wednesday.
The president said “Bowser” was “a good guy who tried it, but she’s given plenty of opportunities.”
Trump has repeatedly suggested that Washington’s rules could be returned to federal authorities. To do so you need a Abolishing the Home Rules Act In Congress in 1973, Trump said his lawyers were considering it. You may face a sudden pushback.
Bowser admitted that the law allows the president to have more control over the city’s police, but only if certain conditions are met.
“We don’t have these conditions in our city right now,” she said. “We haven’t experienced a surge in crime. In fact, we’re seeing the number of crimes drop.”
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Associated Press authors Ashraf Khalil and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
