President Donald Trump took unprecedented steps toward federalizing Washington, D.C. on Monday, saying it’s needed to fight crime even as city leaders pointed to data showing violence is down.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is scheduled to hold a news briefing at 1 p.m. ET. Watch in the player above.
He took command of the police department and deployed the National Guard under laws and Constitutional powers that give the federal government more sway over the nation’s capital than other cities. Its historically majority Black population wasn’t electing its own city council and mayor until 1973, when Republican President Richard Nixon signed the Home Rule Act.
On Tuesday morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser was seen exiting a black SUV in the Justice Department courtyard and walking into the building ahead of her meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith was also seen entering Justice Department headquarters ahead of the planned meeting.
Trump said Monday that Bondi would assume responsibility for the police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed crime is already falling.
