WASHINGTON (Reuters)-US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will likely expand his repression of crime to Chicago, intervening in another city governed by Democrats, and threatened to take full control of Washington rather than just his policing.
Saying, without evidence, that violent crimes were out of control in the capital of the country, Trump sent national guard soldiers and federal streets last week with the mission of reducing crime.
“It was horrible and Mayor Bowser is better to straighten or will not be mayor for a long time, because we will take control with the federal government and manage the city as it should be administered,” Trump told reporters, referring to Washington’s mayor Muriel Bowser.
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Recent statistics, which Trump minimized, show that the crime has decreased in the US capital since the peak recorded in 2023.
Washington is a unique federal enclave established in the US Constitution and under the jurisdiction of Congress, not belonging to any state.
In 1973, Congress approved the Autonomy Law of the district of Columbia, allowing residents to elect a mayor and members of the Council.
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Continuing his makeshift comments in the White House, Trump reflected on extending his efforts to other cities. He refused to explain how the federal government could intervene in the application of local law in cities outside the Federal Washington Enclave.
“Chicago is a mess,” said Trump, ridicule his mayor. “And we will probably solve it afterwards.”
Trump said some of his supporters in Chicago are “shouting for us to come.”
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“I went well with the black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen,” he said. “Therefore, I think Chicago will be next and then we will help with New York.”
As in Washington, crime, including murders, decreased in Chicago last year. A spokesman for the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, did not respond to a request for comment.
New York City, also criticized by Trump, has recorded a constant decline in violent crimes in recent decades and now has a relatively low homicide rate among large US cities.
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Although the Republican President has presented his efforts as an urgent measure to help residents feel safe again, Democrats and other critics say they intend to expand president’s powers beyond the limits of the Constitution and affirm federal control over cities run by democratic authorities.
The tenth amendment of the US Constitution usually prevents the federal government from commanding state or municipal authorities and interveys in state legal and criminal justice systems unless citizens’ constitutional rights are being violated.
