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Posted by
Olog-hai
on Tue Sep 2 18:01:16 2025, in response to President Donald Trump Has Just Made Washington D.C. Safer, posted by chicagoMotorman on Mon Aug 11 14:21:49 2025.
Washington Compost link and Archive.ph snapshot
Bowser welcomes federal law enforcement presence indefinitelyD.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) on Tuesday welcomed federal law enforcement officials to stay in D.C. indefinitely, a powerful indication of her willingness to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s effort to take over public safety in the capital city.
Bowser issued an executive order Tuesday that requires local coordination with federal law enforcement “to the maximum extent allowable by law within the District.” The order gives no expiration date.
By law, Trump’s federalization of the D.C. police force lasts 30 days and is set to expire next week. Bowser’s announcement may quell any showdown over what happens after that deadline passes by authorizing continued cooperation between the city and federal authorities.
In a statement on social media, Bowser said that her order would “provide the pathway forward beyond the Presidential emergency.” She has previously said that because of the federal government’s power over the District, she can get more done by working with him on “their shared priorities.”
The Tuesday afternoon announcement delighted Trump and green-lit parts of his administration’s operation in D.C., a senior White House official said. Last month, Trump federalized the local police department, ordered National Guard members to flood the streets and deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to crack down on (illegal!) immigration.
The incursion thrust Bowser into the national spotlight as she was forced to navigate a delicate relationship with the federal government, which because of D.C.’s unique status under the U.S. Constitution, has ultimate say over city laws and budgets.
“We don’t have a crime problem in Washington anymore,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “And the mayor has been very helpful.”
Bowser’s interactions with top Trump lieutenants — and even the president himself, with whom she has spoken periodically in recent months — present a stark contrast to other Democratic mayors and governors around the nation who have rebuffed Trump’s threats that he would send federal officials to curb crime in their cities.
Just before holding a news conference last week praising the results of the surge of federal law enforcement, Bowser met with the president at the White House, according to two senior White House officials and a person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Bowser was there meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi and chief of staff Susie Wiles before briefly stepping in to speak with Trump, the people said.
“I think she’s very smart to be doing this,” one of the senior White House officials said, adding that they appreciate Bowser’s “candor and recognizing she needed help.”
Two White House officials familiar with Bowser’s interactions with the administration said she has been in close contact with Bondi, Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller since Trump launched an increased federal presence in the district. One official said she talks with Bondi the most frequently, at times daily.
“The Trump Administration is grateful to continue partnering with Mayor Bowser to make DC the safest city in the country,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “The Mayor’s fellow Democrats should take note, working with President Trump means safer communities and less crime — no one in their right mind could seriously oppose that.”
Bowser’s executive order said D.C. would manage the District’s response to Trump’s “safe and beautiful” task force and to his presidential declaration of a crime emergency in D.C. “on a continuing basis.”
It also established an emergency operations center to coordinate communications and emergency operations with federal law enforcement.
Far before Trump took office, federal law enforcement agencies have coordinated with D.C. police to serve warrants and investigate gun crime.
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