A viral Truth Social post from President Donald Trump this week threatening a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has generated predictable outrage on the left and among the Democrat partisans who govern the city. But as the nation’s capital descends further into a lawless hellscape of carjackings, drug use, and rampant homelessness, Trump’s proposal is exactly what the city needs – and what Americans deserve.
The controversy began when Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old software engineer, was surrounded by multiple assailants and brutally beaten in D.C. over the weekend. Coristine was formerly a part of Elon Musk’s team at the Department of Government Efficiency and now works at the Social Security Administration. He was notably known by the humorous moniker “Big Balls.”
At around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, police say a group of teenagers in the city’s Logan Circle neighborhood approached Coristine and a woman he was with as the pair were nearing their vehicle. Coristine pushed the woman into the car for safety and then turned to confront the group, who began beating him. A photo of a bloodied Coristine has been viewed millions of times on social media. Police say they arrested two 15-year-olds fleeing the scene.
In response to the news, Trump posted that crime in D.C. is “totally out of control.”
“Local ‘youths’ and gang members… are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing they will be almost immediately released,” the President continued. “They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now! Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see. If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run.”
Trump’s statement prompted plenty of impassioned opposition on the left, including one post that compared the threat to Adolf Hitler’s seizure of power in Germany in 1933. There were the usual cries that a federal takeover would be “unconstitutional” and a “threat to democracy.”
However, there is a stronger argument that D.C.’s home rule is itself the constitutional abomination. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution clearly states: “The Congress shall have Power… to exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.”
In other words, the Founders intended for Congress to govern the capital city. They intentionally carved out a special district that was not part of any state and would exist under federal control. The entire point was to not leave members of Congress and government employees subject to coercion and control from an outside governing body.
It was only the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in 1973 that created a locally elected mayor and city council. Congress still has the power to veto D.C. laws via a simple majority vote in both chambers, but that authority is rarely exercised.
Since that time, the city has been governed exclusively by liberals – and has been worse off for it. In the 52 years of home rule, there have been just two Republicans elected to the D.C. city government – and the second one, David Catania, left the GOP and became an Independent in 2004.
Like every other liberal city, crime has spiraled out of control under Democrat governance, bringing with it poverty and cultural decay. After the establishment of home rule, D.C.’s homicide count rose from 289 in 1973 to 299 in 1974, 380 in 1980, and 462 in 1989 before topping out at 509 in 1991. After a notable reduction in homicides in the 2000s and 2010s, the murder rate appears to be on the rise once again, as the city has marked more than 200 homicides each year since 2020. In more recent years, a wave of youth crime, particularly carjackings, has plagued the city. In one particularly gruesome incident in 2021, two teenage girls were charged with murder after a botched carjacking left a 66-year-old man dead.
The capital’s crime epidemic is a direct result of liberal soft-on-crime policies and the city government’s war on the police department. Following the BLM riots in 2020 that saw much of the city vandalized and torched, DCPD staffing reached a half-century low even as homicides spiked. Still, the city council attempted to pass a crime bill that was so radical that even former President Joe Biden signed a resolution overturning it.
In any other city, these disastrous results might be shrugged off as the unfortunate result of voters choosing the same failed policies and politicians over and over again. But D.C. is not any other city, and every American citizen holds a unique stake in what happens there.
As Trump correctly points out, the nation’s capital should be a shining symbol of American greatness. The United States is the richest and most powerful nation in the history of the world. The fact that the streets of D.C. are overrun with gangs of teenagers terrorizing and assaulting government employees because the city’s leaders care more about “restorative justice” than enforcing the law and punishing criminals is a national and international embarrassment.
Moreover, D.C. is entirely propped up by tax dollars flooding in from everywhere else in the country. It has no local economy to speak of beyond government and tourism, to see the monuments and museums that American taxpayers keep open. D.C.’s leaders have an obligation not just to the people who live there, but also to every American who deserves to be able to come to the nation’s capital without having to wade through homeless encampments and worry about their family’s safety.
It is also a threat to the constitutional order to have a national government reside in a city where the local government is openly hostile toward one political party. We saw the alarming results of this in the summer of 2020 when violent rioters effectively besieged the White House and threatened violence against Trump and his staffers. Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser not only egged on the unrest, but she and the city council also prevented the police from intervening to stop the chaos and lawlessness.
During this tense moment, Trump showed extraordinary restraint by not taking control of the city’s police force and National Guard – as he has the full power to do under the Home Rule Act. But the city’s law-abiding residents and 25 million annual visitors deserve better than what they are getting from current leadership.
The best solution, abolishing home rule altogether and permanently ending the fantasy that D.C. can become a state, is unlikely given that it will take 60 votes in the Senate. But the city relies heavily on federal tax dollars, and congressional Republicans can use budget riders and other spending mechanisms to force D.C. city leaders to adjust their laws and better preserve law and order.
D.C. has proven time and again that it cannot govern itself responsibly. If its leaders won’t restore safety and order, then Congress and President Trump must.
Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. Follow him on X @shaneharris513.
Looks like it is about time for the US Congress to follow the law and bring law and order back to Washington DC with Federal jurisdiction. Bounce the inept Mayor and city council and take back the control that is needed to protect the local citizens.
It should never have been out of federal control! It’s supposed to belong to ALL of the states!
Between 1970 and 1972, I attended the American University as a married graduate student. My wife was the Head of Nursing Services for Sibley Hospital during that period. My classes went into the evenings at times and she worked the night shifts regularly. Never once did we have to worry about issues pestering folks today. We did, however, wake up one morning with the National Guard deployed on the Key Bridge in Arlington, where we lived. But that was in response to the threat of race riots, which was quickly quelled. President Trump is correct in his judgment and the law supports his position.
Pres. George Washington created the District of Columbia to be a federal enclave as the US Capitol. It should be the showcase of America. Monuments, Museums, parks, grand boulevards. NO housing except for Dormitory style quarters for Congress and Senatorial workers and the politicians themselves. (thus cutting their per diem). Remove the slums, send them to NYC and Bayonne. Restore D.C. as a Showplace. Prison for repeat juvenile offenders!
DC is the product of the democrats making America into a lawless country where criminals are let out of jail, those having committed a crime let go and when a murder or rape occurs they blame the victims. Not one time has a democrat from Obama to Biden on down ever took time to contact the survivors of those women and children killed by the illegal aliens. They didn’t care about drug addicts living on the street, drugs kept flowing into this country in copious amounts. They didn’t care and still don’t. The homeless on the street, destroying the inner cities, most who need mental health care. Billions of dollars was appropriated in CA and the homelessness just increased. Why? Because they provided free needles. That was their answer to this huge problem. They didn’t care and still don’t. They have created lawlessness in the name of DEI. And the teenagers like the 15-16 years old have heard nothing else the past 5 years go ahead and steal you can up to 999 dollars. BLM riots in 2020 were encouraged. Cities were burning, the MSM reported it mostly peaceful while the flames from a burning police station was going on behind them. These kids know all this is permitted by the dems. The police can’t do anything. If they do the dems just scream racism and the democrats will get you off. After all tge judges have been weaponized. They might even go and visit you in prison. They did with a MS 13 gang member deported to El Salvador. Had lunch with him over a few drinks. Man you get treated like a king when you commit a crime especially in DC. The genie is out of the bottle and the only one and the only way to stop all this is president Trump and federal policing. That has nothing to do with Hitlerism it has to do with stopping a coup and return law and order to DC and everywhere. The lawlessness, the brainwashing by the democrats has to stop or the shooting like today at Fort Stewart will continue. Their hatred and their them against us mentality has to change or we will kill one another over something as silly as wearing blue jeans.
Democrats rule by promoting chaos, anarchy and violence. The cater to the “lowest common denominator”, criminals, lawbreakers drug addicts, etc. making concessions and excuses for them, letting them believe they are victims and not to blame for their actions. DC and many Democrat cities have devolved into havens for criminal behavior as a result and Trump needs to “be the adult in the room ” to just say NO!!!
Remember, no one is above the law! Time to make life tough for these thugs. Take back DC!!
Crime all over this nation is out of control. We need to rein it in fast before we destroy ourselves.
DC should be under control of the feds. Not sure how//why this became a pseudo state like government. Our representatives and federal workers should have the ability to run this area in order to control their safety.
It used to be wonderful to go to DC and see all there to see, but it’s dangerous visit, especially at night. Change is badly needed.
It’s about time for the parents of these “children” to be held responsible and not allowed to reproduce out of wedlock at taxpayer expense . Cut the welfare, cut the crime. Dems are all culprits here, no one will touch this hot potato. The sty Hercules had to clean is a pristine chapel in comparison to the dems created mess and they still are in business and aggressive as ever.
“city relies heavily on federal tax dollars”
I wonder how many tax dollars?
Lets go back to the Constitution and have Congress govern DC
Democrats aren’t soft on crime, THEY LOVE CRIME. They have had 70+ YEARS AND SHAVE SPENT TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to fix ‘war’ torn inner city ghettos in ALL the Blue States across the country). But its been ALL talk, corruption, lies, and decades after decades, after decades of FAILED LEFT-WING PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST DEMOCRAT POLICIES, CORRUPT DIRTY DAs AND JUDGES, AND STUPID DEMOCRAT VOTERS WHO ARE ALL TO BLAME!!!
They LOVE ghettos and the filth, drugs, and crime it attracts. They LOVE DEFENDING AND FREEING THUGS, ANARCHISTS, RIOTERS, ARSONISTS, DRUG DEALERS, CHILD MOLESTERS AND RAPISTS. THEY LOVE ALL THE CHAOS AND SUFFERING IT BRINGS TO SOCIETY. AND THEY LOVE WHAT IT’S DOING TO AMERICA.
If you think they don’t, look around and then name just ONE Democrat politician or ONE Democrat DA, or ONE Democrat judge who is ACTUALLY TOUGH ON CRIME (AKA a table-banging Democrat politician writing and forwarding bills that will DLAM DUNK CRIMINALS; or a DA that makes the news ny prosecuting every lowlife criminal that the police arrest; and a ‘hanging’ judge that hands out MAXIMUM SENTENCES to the guilty scum stinking up his courtroom.
Here’s a clue – they don’t exist. Otherwise, Trump wouldn’t have to ever get involved.
What can you say another Dem run state that is turned into a garbage hole, very sad and they could care less how safe people are there. I do not blame President Trump to come in there and clean it up with federal people to take over the policing there. It would figure the Dems hate everything President Trump does they want people to live there in fear for there lives it keeps them in control. I hope that President Trump does bring in Federal troops to control crime.
In order to save the lives of people who do business here and work- we have to as a government shut it down and override the mayor.
It’s sad to even have to contemplate this but no other alternative is logical.
AGREED!!! Go President Trump
I believe Jeanine Pirro is now the us District Attorney in DC. That’s a good start. Next would be to remove the draconian firearm laws that disarm law abiding citizens and leave the gangs (who don’t have to register their guns because it violates their rights) well armed. If the Congress wishes to continue disarming Americans when they visit THEIR capitol, then it’s incumbent on Congress to ensure the safety of everyone. I am not; However, sure the Congress is up to that task. I’d rather be responsible for my own security and have the means to do so.
The mayor & others that run DC should be totally ashamed of what is going on there but it looks like they could care less because they do nothing to solve the big problems there. People should be able to live, work & visit our capitol without fearing for their lives.
Washington DC is incapable of governing itself. It does not belong to just the people who live there — it is America’s capitol. Trump should Federalize it and govern it directly. DC has turned itself into a hellscape.
It is so funny that the leftists cry for the government to send them millions of dollars to bail out their failing demoncrat controlled cities, such as L.A., but scream bloody murder when the government wants to rid those cities of crime. The District of Columbia should NOT be run like a regular city because it is not a regular city. The federal government should have control over the nations capital, but even that could be risky given that the leftist socialist communist have been gaining more and more power in the federal government, too. Every time President Trump, or a Republican governor, tries to do something to benefit the nation or their state the leftists want to compare it to hitler. That itself is proof that public education has greatly failed because our elected officials don’t really know what hitler and the nazis were all about. (Or is it they do and are so much like him that they try to distract the American people from seeing their socialist communist ways?)
For residents and visitors alike needs some sorts protection when visiting the Capital!
no statehood forever!
Fellow Americans, Washington DC is our Country’s Capitol City and it must be safely available to not only Citizens, but Visitors as well. I am totally behind President Trump’s idea. We just can not have Washington DC become known around the world as a dangerous uncontrolled piece of ground that humans fear traveling to, traveling through or visiting for a few days or maybe even weeks or longer. Please Mr. President, do what needs to be done.
DC belongs to the whole country, not just the residents of DC. YES, federal control is necessary.
DC can’t become a State. The land it sits on was donated by 2 States. It by Law can’t become a State or the Land reverts back to the States the donated it. I am tired of hearing Democracy when referring to the USA. We are a Constitutional Republic with a democratically elected government. Say the Pledge of Allegiance or read the words. I’m also tired of the tough talk and no action. In Texas that’s called all hat and no cattle. I call it Bull Sh*t. Cowardice Treason. They take an oath before becoming a Congressman. Violation of said Oath is an impeachable offense. Bribery is taking money for an action. That’s a vote in congress. No one is above the law??? There should be no laws created to does not effect congress equally as it does any citizen of this country. Congress was not supposed to be paid to be there. It was supposed to be an honor to serve. Now we have what is in it for me people in congress. Drain the swamp. Get rid of the Globalist. Make laws not executive orders that the next president can do away with. Wasn’t the IRS created by an executive order? Go to a set, can’t be raised, consumption tax. Then you can’t say people need to pay their fair share. If I can only afford a $20,000.00 vehicle and a rich person can afford a $200,000.00 vehicle. See how that fair share tax would set in. At 10% I would pay $2,000.00 in tax. They would pay $20,000.00 in tax. Fair share. Make a law that says the USA census can only count USA citizens. Voter ID numbers. SSN numbers have been use for things it is illegal to use them for. Make that our voter ID number too. That will help get rid of Fraud in 2 areas at once. Only USA citizens can vote in an election period. Cleaning up voter rolls would be great if it ever got done. Maybe attach federal money to cleaning them. Fines if States don’t comply. Why is SCOTUS dragging its feet on the Judges that are overstepping their authority? Why is Congress not getting rid of these districts they created. District courts are not in the constitution correct? Term limits, congressional retirement healthcare. Congress should have to pay for their own not tax payers. Congress retirement should be Social Security. They might be more interested in saving it. Healthcare too. How about STOP SPENDING MONEY WE DON’T HAVE. Credit Card interest rates. If I charged that kin of interest I would be charged with loan sharking. Banks period should not charge more interest than they pay to have our money in them.
Since Washington DC is designed not to be a state I was always puzzled why it wasn’t under Federal Control from the get go. Thanks for this clarification! I should have guessed the DemonRats had something to do with it!
Agree!
I’m in support of federal takeover of Washington DC to defend us from our enemies from within as well as without. This is their constitutional mandate.
I agree with Our President, if he doesn’t take control we will end up like California and New York. Look what the democrats have done to both states.
I’m thinking you meant “D.C.’s homicide count rose from”189 in 1973”.
Don’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. Let Schumer, Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren and her new boyfriend Zohran Mamdani fix it. Wow, was she kissing up to him. lol lol lol !
DC is a disgrace as are most big cities and the democ rats want to import more criminals.
DC governance should be Fed. The party in majority can take the rap but governance in contradiction does not work in a city that exists for the Fed.
Refresh my memory, but didn’t Trump bring in judge Jeannie perro from FOX to start putting these hoodlums in jail or prison & quit letting them go free to comitt more crimes? Have not heard much of Perro ?
Typical progressive/socialist governed city. Usual response from local government. Gee, just give us more money and we will fix it ourselves. Well, you don’t need more money. You need to have the citizen occupants clean up their act and clean up their neighborhoods. Yeh, I know. It’s going to involve putting some of your own relatives and friends in jail, but that’s how it’s done.
Maryland and Virginia donated land for the specific purpose of creating a “district” there. If Democrats are ever successful in doing so, those states could demand return of that land because it was to be used other than intended.
85% of D.C. voters are registered Democrats. The DNC, Congressional Democrats, and their mainstream media allies have said very little about increasing violent crime rates there. Restoring federal control of D.C. could reverse that trend.
If the D.C. mayor had approved Trump’s request for soldiers to keep the peace there on 01-06-2021, that event would likely have ended differently. Failures of D.C. leadership abound with no improvement in sight.
Democrats want to make D.C. a STATE, giving their party two more senators who will always vote for their candidates and to impeach every GOP president. That is a terrible idea.
I agree strongly with the President! Where there is lawlessness, there must be control and order, and it is a rational and justifiable way to do it by the Federal government! Citizens there need that! Period!
DC has been under home rule for 50 years & has been noted for crime, but the big difference is Trump at this time. Hire fore DC police officers to stop crime & if they commit a crime they should do the time & not just let go to do it again.
IT IS ABOUT TIME TO RESTORE WASHINGTON DC TO ITS PRIME.!! SUPPOSED TO BE A SHINING EXAMPLE .. OUR UNITED STATES CAPITOL ..!! ITS A SHAMM.! IF EVERONE HAS TO SUPPORT THIS NONE PRODUCTIVE CUTY THAN WHY SHOULDN’T WE EXCEPT IT BE GOVERNED RIGHT TO PROTECT ALL .!! WHICH IT DOES NOT..!! WHY DO WE ALLOW ANY TYPE OF ‘GHETTO ‘ TO BE ALLOWED IN THE WASHINGTON DC AREA.. PERIOD.,!!! THIS SHOUKD BE OUR SHINNING STAR , BUTT , COMMIE-DEMON-RATZ HAVE TAKEN OVER.. TAKE BACK WASHINGTON DC ..!!
A real solution would be to severely cut down the size of the District, limiting to the actual seat of the government. The Pentagon is outside the District and is part of Virginia. A district that was limited to the Capitol district, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, The house and Senate Office Buildings, The White House and very limited surrounding grounds, the National Mall, the Elipse would fulfill the limits of requirements of the constitution. Give the rest of the land, and problems, to Maryland.
The real reason is a lawless black population raised from birth to hate whites and authority. It is a tribal environment where displays of wealth and tough guy posturing are the rules for behavior. Walk around in any South East or Anacostia neighborhood and look at the racial propaganda. Go to a UDC graduation with plenty of black nationalism signs, but not one American flag.
Trump and the House shouldn’t use stopping the money to DC. He should get rid of or have the criminals who call themselves leaders put in prison where they belong and put competent people in their place. This country needs evil criminals taken out of these evil places so law and order can prevail.
Parents need to take responsibility for their children. Like they did when I was young. They need to actually be parents and not their friends, drinking and smoking with them.
God bless Trump, mark reed levin verified & told voters to Trust in the 2024 election of Trump 2025
The establishment of the one mile square Federal District of Columbia states that it is under the direct control of the congress. “Local government” is a privilege, revocable by the congress, which, given the state of anarchy therein, should be exercised.
Fully support returning DC to the federal government. I also think that congress does not need to live in the DC area at all. With today’s video capabilities Each congress member should stay in their own state and video attend and vote from home. They could meet once a year in DC. This puts them in direct contact with their constituents and removes them from the politicians, lobbyists, activists and bureaucrats who are known as the “Power Players”. These un-elected weasels try to enact change, influence decisions, and shape the nation’s direction by throwing money at our
elected congress members. It is time to throw them all out of the cesspool known as DC….imho
D.C. can’t stop it, and it would get rid of that quasi-communist “city council.”
Amen
They should abolish the home rule a d take over everything administration wise of DC!
The home rule of 1973 should have never been passed.