JUST IN: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Calls Trump’s Troop Deployment “Un-American”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is firing back at former President Donald Trump after his latest push to place troops on the streets of the nation’s capital.
Bowser blasted the move as “Un-American,” arguing that deploying soldiers against citizens sends the wrong message to the world and undermines democratic values. Her remarks come as Trump doubles down on calls for a crackdown on crime and unrest in major U.S. cities.
Supporters of the former president insist that federal troops are necessary to restore law and order, while critics say it’s a dangerous overreach of executive power. The clash between Bowser and Trump highlights the deep divide over how far government should go in enforcing public safety — and who ultimately holds the authority to do so.
The District of Columbia remains in political turmoil after President Trump declared a safety-inspired “takeover” of the city’s streets, with a federal judge forcing him to retreat from total control of the police department and Republican governors rushing National Guard troops to deploy at federal command.
Judge Ana Reyes said Mr. Trump lacks the legal power to take over the police entirely but can order National Guard troops to perform specific tasks.
Under a deal she brokered, Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded an order placing control of the police in her hands. She issued a new order enlisting city police to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security in immigration arrests and to clear homeless encampments.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s National Guard deployment is gaining reinforcements from Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia. The states said they are sending roughly 700 soldiers to join 800 D.C. troops already on the streets.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the troops may be ordered to carry weapons.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, denounced the additional troops.
“American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is UnAmerican,” the mayor said on social media over the weekend.
Federal officials, though, say Mr. Trump’s work is helping.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration have racked up more than 300 arrests since Mr. Trump launched the takeover on Aug. 7.
They also cleared 25 homeless camps, bringing the total to more than 100.
Ms. Bondi said federal agents and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers reported 68 arrests and 15 illegal gun seizures Saturday. On Friday, 52 people were arrested on charges of armed robbery, drug distribution, theft warrants and immigration-related offenses.
“Homicide suspects, drug traffickers, and more are being charged,” Ms. Bondi posted Sunday on X. “I’ll continue to stand with you as we make DC safe again.”
The American Civil Liberties Union said the stiffer enforcement is a threat to “Black, Brown and unhoused residents.”
“Sending heavily armed federal agents and National Guard troops from hundreds of miles away into our nation’s capital is unnecessary, inflammatory, and puts people’s rights at high risk of being violated,” said Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU’s national security project.
The ACLU warned of potential legal problems for the Guard troops.
Mr. Trump’s attempt to take over the city police department has hit some of those legal hurdles, forcing him to rethink the scope of his plans.
At issue was Ms. Bondi’s order Thursday to install an acting commissioner with the power to veto any command decision.
During a court hearing Friday, Judge Reyes said Mr. Trump, and by extension Ms. Bondi, has some powers under the city’s home rule charter to control the police during an emergency, but she added that a takeover goes too far.
She said the president can order positive actions but can’t maintain a veto over other department actions.
“The way that I read this statute is the president can ask, the mayor must provide, but the president can’t control. Which means the president has to act in the affirmative, not say in the negative, you can’t do X, Y or Z,” the judge said.
The Biden appointee specifically rejected the idea of a full takeover.
“The statute would have no meaning at all if the president could say we’re just taking over your police department,” she said.
She suggested that Ms. Bondi try again.
The attorney general returned Friday night with an order that left Police Chief Pamela A. Smith and Ms. Bowser in charge but enlisted officers to help with some of Mr. Trump’s specific goals, particularly a crackdown on illegal immigration.
“The proliferation of illegal aliens into our country during the prior administration, including into our nation’s capital, presents extreme public safety and national security risks to our country,” Ms. Bondi wrote in her order.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who sued and asked for a temporary restraining order Friday, said the city’s home rule powers were preserved.
“The court recognized that it was clearly unlawful for the Administration to try to seize control of the Metropolitan Police Department. Chief Smith and Mayor Bowser rightfully remain in command of MPD,” he said on social media. “There is still a long road ahead, but together, we will keep fighting to defend the District’s self-governance and protect the rights and safety of D.C. residents.”