President Trump on Friday suggested that the federal government could take over Washington, D.C., if the national capital’s administration “can’t do the job” as he pursues making the district “the talk of the world.”
“We’re cleaning up our city. We’re cleaning up this great capital, and we’re not going to have crime and we’re not going to stand for crime, and we’re going to take the graffiti down and we’re already taken to tents down there,” Trump said in a speech on “law and order” at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“We’re working with the administration, and if the administration can’t do the job … we’re gonna have to take it back and run it through the federal government,” the president said of the district’s leadership.
“But we hope the administration is going to be able – so far, they’ve been doing very well. The mayor has been doing a good job.”
Trump has previously raised the idea of controlling the district, which is governed by a council of elected representatives and a mayor. A 1973 law stipulates that Congress reviews all legislation passed by the D.C. Council before it becomes law, and the president appoints the District’s judges. But a federal takeover would require help from Congress.
