President Trump wants the federal government to take control of Washington, D.C. in order to crack down on homelessness and violent crime.
Trump said that federal authorities should take control away from local Democrat leaders who are not doing their jobs and bring law and order to the city.
“I think that we should govern the District of Columbia. I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawless,” Trump said. “And I think we should take over Washington, D.C. We could save people from getting killed. They have a great police department there. Somehow they’re not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. The federal government should take over the governance of D.C. and run it really, really properly.”
Trump is reportedly planning an executive order demanding D.C. authorities start to clean up homeless encampments and address crime.
“Too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns, there’s magnificent lawns and there’s tents. It’s a sad thing, homeless people all over the place, we’ve got to take care of the homeless,” Trump said.
“You can’t have tents all over your beautiful, your once magnificent houses and lawns, you just can’t do it,” he said, noting that the city should look nice especially when foreign leaders visit.
“We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation in Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it and rebuild our capital city so there is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime,” Trump said last year while campaigning, promising to clean up the city.
The executive order reportedly involves harsher punishments for violent gun crimes and petty crimes such as public urination, as well as protection of national monuments and federal parks.
Legislation introduced earlier this month by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) would end “home rule,” which allows D.C. residents to control their own local affairs, and transfer the city under the management of Congress.