Trump has federalized DC's police force. Now what?
'We're going to restore the city back to the gleaming capital that everybody wants it to be,' Trump said at the White House on Monday. 'It's going to be something very special.'
But little communication seems to have been done before Trump's news conference – the Washington, DC, mayor and police chief hadn't been told about the takeover until they watched Trump say it live. It's led to confusion over who now leads the MPD, how their policing strategy will change and in what ways federal agents – many who aren't trained for community policing – are going to interact with local officers.
During a separate news conference, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was trying to set up a meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump said would be overseeing the implementation of his order. She also maintained that Chief of Police Pamela Smith would still run the department and report to Bowser up through the deputy mayor.
'Nothing about our organizational chart has changed,' Bowser said. 'And nothing in the executive order would indicate otherwise.'
This is the first time a president has used Section 740 of the Home Rule Act to federalize the DC metro police, said Dr. Heidi Bonner, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at East Carolina University.
'It's definitely difficult to say what that means,' she said, including it being 'an open question' as to who's in charge.
'Is the chief of police still in charge of the department once it's become federalized?' Bonner asked. 'And of course, all this is mixed up in the unique nature of DC as a district and not a state. There are different authorities – the president acts as the governor for all intents and purposes when it comes from the National Guard.'
Bowser seemed resigned to the fact that Trump's decision would go into effect given the city's status. Prominent Democrats called Bowser and her office Monday to offer support but indicated there was little they could do to stop the takeover.
'I don't want to minimize what was said and I don't want to minimize the intrusion on our autonomy,' Bowser said. The mayor also called the move 'unsettling and unprecedented' and advocated for DC statehood to prevent such unilateral action from the president.
Police Chief Smith said she was scheduled to meet with federal liaisons following the news conference for the first time regarding Trump's announcement in order to start to 'create an operational plan.'
Trump activated 800 soldiers from the DC National Guard, with up to 200 members being assigned to supporting law enforcement, according to the Defense Department.
'Duties for those personnel include administrative and logistical roles, as well as providing a physical presence in support of law enforcement,' the DOD said.
The unilateral move contrasts heavily with how Trump blamed others, including Bowser and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not deploying the National Guard on January 6, 2021, before Trump-supporters broke into the US Capitol.
Over the weekend, Trump had already moved officers from several federal agencies to begin assisting MPD in policing certain areas in DC, including as many as 130 FBI agents to patrol with DC police as part of the increased federal presence, according to two people familiar with the deployment.
It's not typical for FBI agents to patrol with local police, and agents are often not trained for community policing and operate under different policies – including for use of deadly force – that could create issues on the ground, two federal law enforcement sources told CNN. Because of this, pairing federal agents with officers to patrol DC could present a situation where each member of the team must respond differently to a potential threat based on the respective agency's policy.
In the FBI, the plan to deploy agents to patrol the streets of Washington has been met with concern over strained resources and the safety of agents who are not trained in routine police patrols, according to multiple sources.
Taking agents away from their daily investigations to patrol DC would risk not adequately addressing other serious crimes like terrorism, foreign counterintelligence threats, cyber intrusions and the nation's fentanyl epidemic, sources said.
'This isn't hard: If we're doing (policing) we're not covering down on those other threats,' said one source.
Federal agents are also typically only minimally trained in conducting vehicle stops, which remains one of the most dangerous aspects of a police officer's job. Unlike routine police encounters with suspects, which may only involve one or two officers, when agencies like the FBI conduct an arrest, they typically plan out the operation methodically in advance and execute it with a complement of agents that far outnumbers the suspect.
During the two sparring news conferences Monday, Trump remained adamant that crime in Washington is out of control despite data suggesting that it has decreased in recent years, and Bowser said firmly that DC is 'not experiencing a spike in crime but a decrease in crime.'
Regardless of the current crime rates, Bonner noted that Trump's order has a 30-day limit and said any long-term impact on crime is doubtful.
'You can't have a long-term effect on crime with fast actions like this because it doesn't get to the root causes,' Bonner said. 'At the end of 30 days, it will be interesting to see what it has done in terms of reducing the crime rate further, or whatever the goals of this operation are, and what they might try to do moving forward to affect some long term fixes.'
'Because, again, you're not going to affect crime in the long term without addressing the symptoms of crimes,' Bonner said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pritzker, Klobuchar, Gallego flock to NH: Are they considering a run for president 2028?
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, is set to visit New Hampshire Aug. 22, becoming the latest high-profile politician to fuel 2028 presidential race speculation by making a stop in the Granite State. "I'll be on the ground in New Hampshire... taking on the GOP's billionaire agenda and standing up for working families," Gallego, who was elected to the Senate last fall, said in a July 29 post on X. He follows Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who in April caught attention for delivering a searing speech in New Hampshire aimed at 'do-nothing' Democrats, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who in July campaigned for U.S. Senate candidate Chris Pappas. (Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also visited New Hampshire in July, but then announced her run for South Carolina governor.) They join about a dozen Democratic politicians who have already begun to make moves seemingly towards a 2028 run. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke about existential questions facing Democrats and the country at a veterans-focused forum in Iowa in May, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have all trekked through South Carolina. Gallego's New Hampshire visit comes after he toured the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Aug. 8. He has also already visited states like Pennsylvania and Alaska. Gallego and other hopefuls are still being cagey about their intentions. (Gallego said it was "too early" to talk about 2028 in Iowa.) But they are 'testing the waters,' said Andy Smith, the Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. 'And that doesn't mean the Atlantic,' said Smith. 'They're kind of brushing up their reasons to why they should be president, or should consider a run for president, and then trying those arguments out against people here in the state to go out and win an election.' Smith said that candidates often start visiting New Hampshire up to six years before the election year they're aiming for. Rather than trying to win votes, however, Smith said that the politicians are coming to the state to win the support of the people in the state that run campaigns. In New Hampshire, that would be people like Ray Buckley, the Chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. 'They're more likely not to try to make their events open to the public widely, because, frankly, they're not pros at this yet,' Smith said. 'This is also a chance for candidates to come up here and try out their message with some small groups of voters and work on the stuff to make it better.' According to WMUR, Gallego is expected to make a Politics & Eggs address to the New England Council, join a town hall with U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander and stop at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for U.S. Senate. New Hampshire should expect to see many more candidates in the months to come, Smith said. An open primary in 2028, on both sides The shadow campaign is leading up to a race that some political observers believe will be among the Democratic party's most consequential presidential primaries in decades. It comes at a time when the 'party's brand is in the toilet,' Matthew Dallek, a historian and professor of political management at George Washington University, told USA TODAY. The party is facing abysmal approval ratings, and the only way to improve it, said Dallek, is through the next presidential nominee. "The stakes, in that sense, are higher,' Dallek said. 'It's not just the presidency. It's not just the nomination. There's a sense among Democrats that they need to do this, and there's a big debate." With no real front runner on either side, Smith expects many Democratic and Republican candidates to join the fray. It will be a far cry from the 2024 race, when former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump froze out most Democratic and Republican candidates. While some have said that Vice President JD Vance appears to be the heir apparent to Trump on the Republican side, Smith cautions that line of thinking. He pointed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was doing well in the 2024 polls early on but whose message didn't resonate with New Hampshire voters. 'You got to try yourself out on the road and see what voters actually think of you too, and also what the politicos, the people that have run campaigns, tell you whether or not you got a chance or not,' Smith said. 'Pretty evident when somebody comes up and tries to run campaign that may work for them in a different state or in a different environment, they come up to New Hampshire and try to use the same language that just crashes and burns.' Will NH be first in the nation again? Smith thinks it's likely that New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status will be returned to the state in 2028. In 2024, the Democratic National Committee announced that South Carolina would be the first state to vote instead of New Hampshire to have a more diverse state lead the way. However, New Hampshire refused to break tradition and held an unsanctioned primary (before South Carolina's primary) where President Joe Biden's name was absent from the ballot. But through a write-in effort led by Democrats in the state, Biden won anyways, garnering almost 64% of the vote. Smith said that Biden dropping out of the race later in the year gives New Hampshire Democrats a case to argue that if Biden had run in a real primary in New Hampshire like usual, there may have been a different outcome. Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Presidential hopefuls flock to NH: Are they eyeing a 2028 run?
Washington Post
11 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Europe pushes hard to sway Trump before Alaska summit with Putin on Ukraine
BRUSSELS — European leaders are seeking to impress upon President Donald Trump one key point before he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday: The West cannot — must not — negotiate away Ukrainian territory, especially for nothing in return. As Trump floats 'land swaps,' Kyiv's European backers have rejected a Russian proposal to trade Ukrainian land for an undefined truce. And they have issued declarations that 'international borders must not be changed by force.' European leaders are set to press their priorities in a call with Trump on Wednesday, organized by Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which will include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The call is intended to shape Trump's thinking before he sits down with Putin one-on-one in Alaska. The Europeans are insisting that Moscow agree to a ceasefire before negotiations over territory, and that Kyiv needs security guarantees. And, if such negotiations occur, a European counteroffer has pushed the idea that any retreat of Ukrainian forces from Ukrainian-controlled territory should be matched on an inch-for-inch basis by Russia's withdrawal from occupied Ukrainian territory, according to three people briefed on the discussions. European and NATO allies have often failed to sway Trump's thinking, or even to be heard by the U.S. president ahead of big policy decisions, such as to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. And they are frequently dismayed by Trump's policy moves, for example, his unilateral imposition of tariffs. The Europeans recognize that they can only do so much to influence a president who often veers off-script and likes nothing more than to declare a deal. But on Ukraine recently they have met with some success, for example, by persuading Trump to allow them to transfer U.S. weapons to Ukraine and purchase replacements for themselves. And in recent days, especially after a meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Britain over the weekend, they have found the U.S. administration receptive to some of their red lines. After that meeting, Vance, in a television interview, endorsed at least one European position — that the current line of contact and positioning of Ukrainian and Russian troops should be the starting point of any talks — rejecting a Russian demand that Ukraine first surrender its entire eastern Donbas area. Ahead of Wednesday's call some Europeans expressed guarded optimism, especially with Trump seeming to lower expectations of securing a deal in Alaska. There appears to be 'more of an understanding from the Americans that you can't just go for land swaps which would somehow give a prize to Russia,' said one European Union official, who like others in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. Still, the official added, 'it's clear that there are sort of discrepancies, and as we've seen it in the U.S. system by now, you have one man who will decide.' But even with Trump making a more concerted effort to consult allies and keep them updated, there has been confusion over whether Putin is even willing to swap territory, officials said. The administration understood that a partial Russian retreat might be possible after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff returned from meeting with Putin in Moscow last week. However, the Russian offer apparently calls for a Ukrainian surrender of territory that Russian forces don't even control as a precondition for a ceasefire, the people briefed on the talks said. As that mix-up has come untangled, the administration has lowered expectations for the high-stakes Trump-Putin summit, officials said. Wednesday's call with Trump caps a flurry of meetings and statements organized by the Europeans since the Alaska summit was announced, all of which have provided a strong endorsement of Kyiv's position. Wednesday's virtual summit hosted by Germany will include the leaders of France, Britain, Italy, Poland, Finland, the E.U. and NATO. The Europeans will meet first with Zelensky before Trump and Vance are expected to join the call. Trump has also promised to call Zelensky and European leaders right after talking with Putin, to relay whether 'a fair deal' is on the table. 'It's not up to me to make a deal,' he told reporters Monday — seemingly echoing a European refrain that a truce cannot be sealed without them or Ukraine. 'I have many fears and a lot of hope,' Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this week. Tusk said recent comments indicate Trump is increasingly understanding of Ukrainian and European views on the war, but that he was not so sure that would hold. 'I guess everyone's afraid Putin will play Trump's ego again like he has in the past,' said a second European official. 'Who knows, maybe he comes there with another noble-sounding offer or maybe they give [Trump] some state award.' Trump has repeatedly balked after threatening to pressure Russia into a ceasefire. As recently as last week, the president's mounting frustrations with Russia stalling on a ceasefire, and his threats of fresh U.S. sanctions, gave way to his invitation to Putin to meet on U.S. soil. While there has been speculation that Trump may yet try to involve Zelensky in the Alaska talks, European leaders are definitely not invited — giving them little sway over the diplomatic spectacle, even as they have become Ukraine's chief military and financial backer. Most proposals for a truce also envision a role for European nations in enforcing any deal that could reshape the continent's future security. In the scramble to sway Trump, European officials have also stressed that any deal must give Ukraine a bulwark against future attacks, especially because Putin is insisting that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has suggested a deal could involve acknowledging de facto Russian control of some of Ukraine's regions, without Kyiv officially ceding them. If Trump's meeting with Putin advances to 'full-scale negotiations,' Rutte said Sunday, territory would 'have to be on the table,' as would security guarantees for Ukraine. Rutte said talks should recognize 'that Ukraine decides on its own future,' with 'no limitations' on its military or on NATO's posture in Eastern Europe. Freezing the current front lines would leave about one-fifth of Ukraine's territory in Russian hands. Ukraine, meanwhile, has little leverage for a land swap, holding a small toehold in Russia's western Kursk region since a faltering offensive last year. 'Europeans can say what they want, but in the end, Ukraine and Russia will have to agree,' said a third European official. 'It's unlikely there's a peace deal now where Putin says, okay, I'm going to withdraw from all of Ukraine.' The chief diplomat for the 27-nation European Union, Kaja Kallas, told the bloc's foreign ministers in recent days that the initial contours of a deal between Washington and Moscow seemed to 'focus on territory only' and that 'the Ukrainians are very worried,' according to a copy of a written note seen by The Washington Post. Kallas warned against a 'fragile ceasefire' that would solidify Russia's gains in more than three years of war. On Monday, Kallas held a four-hour virtual meeting of E.U. foreign ministers to deliberate on Ukraine ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting and on Israel's war in Gaza. The E.U. official said they didn't see 'willingness' from Kyiv or many of its staunch European allies for trading territory within Ukraine, citing distrust with Russia, which is pressing its advances in the east and attacks on Ukrainian cities. 'We have to understand the Ukrainian position, they have a million men who've been fighting for years now, so it's also something that President Zelensky wouldn't be able to have domestically accepted,' the official said. Though polls show war-weary Ukrainians increasingly favor a settlement to end the fighting, it would be tough to sell ceding territory — home to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and where forces built up defensive lines over years — for a ceasefire that can't be guaranteed. But even as Europe insists that Ukraine must receive security guarantees, its own ideas of what those guarantees would look like remain fuzzy. Ukraine's chief backers say guarantees should start with pledges of more weapons and training for its army, and that they will reject any Russian demand to limit Ukraine's military. Kyiv's top aspiration — NATO membership — seems far-fetched without U.S. buy-in, and a plan for European troops in Ukraine remains on a back burner. Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden, said European governments can shape the talks as Ukraine's chief suppliers of arms and cash. 'That blocks the possibility for Trump to make any concessions to Putin on what I think is among the most important of his demands,' to halt the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, Bildt said. European leaders also still control billions in Russian frozen assets that will factor into negotiations, as well as the battery of sanctions that Russia wants lifted. Camille Grand, a former NATO and French defense official, said there was a disconnect between Europe's financial and political investment in the Ukraine war and its role in the upcoming talks. 'The Europeans today provide the bulk of humanitarian, economic and military aid, and have now accepted to pay for American weapons,' Grand told French public radio, 'while in the negotiations, they can at best hope to influence the American position or to support Ukraine.' Catherine Belton in London contributed to this report.
Washington Post
12 minutes ago
- Washington Post
The one area where Donald Trump loves a critic
Good morning, Early Birds. Welcome to the life of a newsletter writer. Send tips to earlytips@ Thanks for waking up with us. In today's edition … Trump's affinity for putting the 'critics in charge of the criticized' … The White House threatens jailing D.C.'s homeless … but first …
