Donald Trump is doing a lot. The president of the United States threw political gasoline on two of America’s biggest cities, floating the idea of federal takeovers of New York City and Washington D.C. On top of that, he called mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani out of his name, among other things.
Trump’s unfiltered rant happened during a Cabinet meeting inside the White House. He didn’t endorse anyone, but he did talk bad about Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist.
“We’re not going to have…if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same,” Trump said. “But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.”
Trump didn’t clarify what exact authority he would exact or how, but he was just talking from the hip. He quickly moved to Washington D.C., saying it could be next in line for federal control. WTHELLY?
“We could run D.C. We’re looking at D.C. We don’t want crime in D.C. We want the city to run well,” he added. Trump also said his chief of staff Susie Wiles has been working with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on this.
Mamdani’s campaign pushed back immediately.
“Donald Trump has once again chosen to treat democracy like a suggestion and insult the more than half a million New Yorkers who voted for Zohran Mamdani’s leadership and a city they can afford,” the statement reads. “Zohran Mamdani won with a mandate, receiving the most primary votes in New York City history and as mayor, he will not allow Donald Trump to tear this city apart.”
Trump has talked about crime and he did that in this rant too, but crime is down in D.C. A 30-year low. New York is the same. The NYPD even released a statement about it. Read That Here.
That didn’t stop Trump talking more about how “good” this would be.
“We would run it so good, it would be run so proper, we’d get the best person to run it,” Trump said of D.C. “And we know the crime would be down to a minimum, would be much less. And, you know, we’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want a capital that’s run flawlessly, and it wouldn’t be hard for us to do it,” he continued. “And we’ve had a good relationship with the mayor and we’re testing it to see if it works.”
Here is where it gets tricky. The District of Columbia operates under the 1973 Home Rule Act, which gives local officials the power to govern. Congress retains authority to override its decisions. Just last year, the U.S. House blocked two D.C. laws, including a measure to revise the city’s criminal code. Hmmmmmm….
Trump wrapped up saying his relationship with NYC Mayor Adams was “a test.”
“New York City will run properly. We’re going to bring New York back.”