US President Donald Trump came through on one half of his threat of a federal takeover of two big Democratic-ruled cities — Washington and New York. And he said, “I'm going to look at New York in a little while. Let's do this. Let's do this together. Let's see. It's going to go pretty quickly.”
Trump invoked the Home Rule Act to bring the Washington DC police department under direct central control and deployed the National Guard there on Monday. He termed New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles “disasters”, putting them on his to-do list too.
The DC move came just weeks after Trump said at a cabinet meeting that his administration would also seize control of New York City if the Democratic Party's mayoral candidate, Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani, was elected in the November polls.
{{/usCountry}}The DC move came just weeks after Trump said at a cabinet meeting that his administration would also seize control of New York City if the Democratic Party's mayoral candidate, Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani, was elected in the November polls.
{{/usCountry}}Trump has pejoratively called Mamdani a "communist". Mamdani, whose poll pitch is based on welfare and service subsidies, calls himself “a democratic socialist” and has said Trump attacks him also because of his being a Muslim.
“Trump-proofing” NYC is one of Mamdani's chief slogans, which he translated into a new campaign launched on Monday. He had not yet reacted to Trump's DC move when this report was filed.
What Trump has said on DC and NYC
On DC, Trump's team was reportedly in touch with mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, over law-and-control takeover since July.
That was when Trump had talked pointedly about New York City, and attacked Mamdani.
"We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to… I can't tell you what yet, but we're going to make New York great again," Trump had said, playing his Make America Great Again (MAGA) slogan.
Mamdani’s campaign office had retaliated: “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."
'Starting with DC, will go further'
On Monday, Trump termed his Washington law-and-order takeover as “historic action” and “liberation day”. He said he would start with DC, but a wider crackdown on crime would go further to other Americans.
“We’re going to clean it up real quick, very quickly,” he said.
Washington has been self-governing since 1973 but Trump has cited crime stats — which the mayor has countered — to argue for the federal takeover. The capital's autonomy has always been partial, though, under the Home Rule Act, which gives it an elected mayor and council but leaves the laws and budget with the Congress.
Meanwhile, Zohran Mamdani launched a ‘Five Boroughs Against Trump’ tour in New York City on Monday. He has said he would “save the city from Trump”, which means, among other things, to protect immigrants from what he terms unlawful detentions and potential deportations.
For now, Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York State Assembly member, appears pitted mainly against two fellow Democrats who are contesting as independents — current mayor Eric Adams, and former governor Andrew Cuomo whom he defeated for the party nomination. The Republican candidate is Curtis Sliwa, a conservative media personality.
“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,” his campaign office said the last time Trump mentioned a federal takeover of NYC.