On August 22nd, local time,
it was reported that US President Trump warned Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on the same day that if he did not immediately stop publishing “false and severely inaccurate” crime data, he might face the “complete takeover of Washington by the federal government”.
The Trump administration announced earlier this month a series of measures such as deploying National Guard troops to Washington DC and taking over the Washington Metropolitan Police Department by the federal government. The White House said that about 630 arrests have been made since August 11th, including the arrest of 250 immigrants without legal status. Trump posted on social media that the National Guard and the police have made Washington “safe again” and emphasized that “there has been no murder this week”.
The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into crime data in Washington this week.
It is understood that further expansion of the takeover requires congressional approval. Local officials and residents in Washington have expressed opposition to this.
On August 10th, local time, Washington Mayor Bowser refuted Trump’s threat to evict homeless people in Washington and “stop violent crimes”, saying that the crime rate in Washington in 2024 has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years. Police data shows that the number of violent crimes in Washington has dropped by 26% in the first seven months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, and the total number of crimes has decreased by about 7%. (By Xu Tao)
Trump declared that he wanted to “liberate the capital”.