Trump's Washington takeover begins as National Guard troops arrive
The influx came the morning after Mr Trump announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the department.
He cited a crime emergency — but referred to the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably.
The president holds the legal right to make such moves for at least a month.
Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to work alongside the federal officials Mr Trump has tasked with overseeing the city's law enforcement, while insisting the police chief remained in charge of the department and its officers.
'How we got here or what we think about the circumstances — right now we have more police, and we want to make sure we use them,' she told reporters.
The tone was a shift from the day before, when Ms Bowser said Mr Trump's plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and call in the National Guard was not a productive step and argued his perceived state of emergency simply did not match the declining crime numbers.
Still, the law gives the federal government more sway over the capital city than in US states, and Ms Bowser said her administration's ability to push back was limited.
Meanwhile, attorney general Pam Bondi called the Tuesday morning meeting productive in a social media post and said the justice department would 'work closely with the DC city government' to 'make Washington, DC, safe again.'
While Mr Trump invokes his plan by saying that 'we're going to take our capital back', Ms Bowser and the MPD maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023. Carjackings, for example, dropped about 50% in 2024 and are down again this year.
Ms Bowser, a Democrat, spent much of Mr Trump's first term in office openly sparring with the Republican president.
She fended off his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition when he called in a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to confront anti-police brutality protesters in summer 2020.
She later had the words 'Black Lives Matter' painted in giant yellow letters on the street about a block from the White House.
In Mr Trump's second term, backed by Republican control of both houses of Congress, Ms Bowser has walked a public tightrope for months, emphasising common ground with the Trump administration on issues such as the successful effort to bring the NFL's Washington Commanders back to the District of Columbia.
She watched with open concern for the city streets as Mr Trump finally got his military parade this summer.
Her decision to dismantle Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year served as a neat metaphor for just how much the power dynamics between the two executives has evolved.
Now that fraught relationship enters uncharted territory as Mr Trump has followed through on months of what many DC officials had quietly hoped were empty threats.
The new standoff has cast Ms Bowser in a sympathetic light, even among her long-time critics.
'It's a power play and we're an easy target,' Clinique Chapman, chief executive of the DC Justice Lab, said.
A frequent critic of Ms Bowser, whom she accuses of 'over policing our youth' with the recent expansions of Washington's youth curfew, Ms Chapman said Mr Trump's latest move 'is not about creating a safer DC. It's just about power'.
Ms Bowser contends that all the power resides with Mr Trump and that her administration can do little other than comply and make the best of it.
For Mr Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement.
The District of Columbia's status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.
'Let me be crystal clear,' attorney general Pam Bondi said during Mr Trump's announcement news conference.
'Crime in DC is ending and ending today.'
Mr Trump's declaration of a state of emergency fits the general pattern of his second term in office: He has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs, enabling him to essentially rule via executive order. In many cases, he has moved forward while the courts sorted them out.
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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
In Washington police takeover, federal agents and National Guard take on new tasks
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Reuters
14 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump weighs taking stake in Intel, Bloomberg News reports
Aug 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is in talks with Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab to have the U.S. government potentially take a stake in the struggling chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan. Such a move would mark another intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump in industries seen as vital to national security. Trump has pushed for multibillion-dollar government tie-ups in semiconductors and rare earths - for instance, a pay-for-play deal with Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and an arrangement with rare-earth producer MP Materials to secure critical minerals. Intel declined to comment on the report but said it was deeply committed to supporting Trump's efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership. White House spokesman Kush Desai said: "Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration." Intel's shares surged over 7% in regular trading and then another 2.6% after the bell. The discussions follow a meeting this week between Trump and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. That meeting came days after Trump publicly demanded that Tan resign over his investments in Chinese tech companies, some linked to the Chinese military. Details of the stake and price are still being discussed, Bloomberg said. Ryuta Makino, an analyst at Intel investor Gabelli Funds, said it was likely that the U.S. government would take a stake in Intel because Trump wants the chipmaker to expand domestic manufacturing and to create more jobs. Intel warned last month that it may have to get out of the chip manufacturing business if it does not land external customers to make chips in its factories. It planned to slow construction work on new factories in Ohio. Tan, who took the top job just over six months back, has been tasked to undo years of missteps that left Intel struggling to make inroads in the booming AI chip industry dominated by Nvidia, while investment-heavy contract manufacturing ambitions led to heavy losses. "I think any deal that involves the U.S., as well as third-party investors (PE) likely has to come with tariffs that strongly encourage customers like Nvidia, AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab, Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab to use Intel Foundry," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of market analysis firm Creative Strategies. It is not unusual for the U.S. government to take a stake in a company, but those have usually needed financial help. Though Intel's stock market value has tumbled in recent years and it has lost its industry leadership, its revenue remains stable at over $50 billion a year, and it was not clear to some investors that the chipmaker needs such direct government assistance.
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
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