{"id":145287,"date":"2025-08-14T14:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/145287\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:27:13","slug":"dc-mayor-bowser-responds-to-trump-with-relative-restraint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/145287\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Mayor Bowser responds to Trump with relative restraint"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 As National Guard troops deploy across her city<\/a> as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> efforts to clamp down on crime, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is responding with relative restraint.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s called Trump\u2019s takeover of the city\u2019s police department and his decision to activate 800 members of the guard \u201c unsettling and unprecedented<\/a> \u201d and gone as far as to cast his efforts as part of an \u201cauthoritarian push.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bowser has so far avoided the kind of biting rhetoric and personal attacks typical of other high-profile Democratic leaders, despite the unprecedented incursion into her city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can\u2019t say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we\u2019re totally surprised,\u201d Bowser told reporters at a press conference responding to the efforts. She even suggested the surge in resources might benefit the city and noted that limited home rule allows the federal government \u201cto intrude on our autonomy in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy tenor will be appropriate for what I think is important for the District,\u201d said Bowser, who is in her third term as mayor. \u201cAnd what\u2019s important for the District is that we can take care of our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approach underscores the reality of Washington\u2019s precarious position under the thumb of the federal government. Trump has repeatedly threatened an outright takeover of the overwhelmingly Democratic city, which is granted autonomy through a limited home rule agreement passed in 1973 that could be repealed by Congress. Republicans, who control both chambers, have already frozen more than a $1 billion<\/a> in local spending, slashing the city\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

That puts her in a very different position from figures such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Democrats whose states depend on the federal government for disaster relief and other funding, but who have nonetheless relentlessly attacked the current administration as they lay the groundwork for potential 2028 presidential runs. Those efforts come amid deep frustrations from Democratic voters that their party has not been nearly aggressive enough in its efforts to counter Trump\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately she is in a very vulnerable position,\u201d said Democratic strategist Nina Smith. \u201cThis is the sort of thing that can happen when you don\u2019t have the powers that come with being a state. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing right now, the mayor trying to navigate a very tough administration. Because this administration has shown no restraint when it comes to any kind of constitutional barriers or norms.\u201d<\/p>\n

A change from Trump\u2019s first term<\/p>\n

Bowser\u2019s approach marks a departure from Trump\u2019s first term, when she was far more antagonistic toward the president.<\/p>\n

Then she routinely clashed with the administration, including having city workers paint giant yellow letters spelling out \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d on a street near the White House during the George Floyd protests in 2020.<\/p>\n

This time around, Bowser took a different tact from the start. She flew to Florida to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after he won the election and has worked to avoid conflict<\/a> and downplay points of contention, including tearing up the<\/a> \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d letters after he returned to Washington in response<\/a> to pressure from Republicans in Congress. <\/p>\n

The change reflects the new political dynamics at play, with Republicans in control of Congress and an emboldened Trump who has made clear he is willing to exert maximum power and push boundaries in unprecedented ways. <\/p>\n

D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson said she understands Bowser\u2019s position, and largely agrees with her conclusion that a legal challenge to Trump\u2019s moves would be a long shot. Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act<\/a> in his executive order, declaring a \u201ccrime emergency\u201d so his administration could take over the city\u2019s police force. The statue limits that control to 30 days unless he gets approval from Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge would be on the question of \u2018Is this actually an emergency?\u2019\u201d said Henderson, a former congressional staffer. \u201cThat\u2019s really the only part you could challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henderson believes the city would face dim prospects in a court fight, but thinks the D.C. government should challenge anyway, \u201cjust on the basis of precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he believes he can extend the 30-day deadline by declaring a national emergency, but said \u201cwe expect to be before Congress very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can\u2019t have 30 days,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna do this very quickly. But we\u2019re gonna want extensions. I don\u2019t want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limited legal options<\/p>\n

Bowser\u2019s response is a reflection of the reality of the situation, according to a person familiar with her thinking. As mayor of the District of Columbia, Bowser has a very different relationship with the president and federal government than other mayors or governors. The city is home to thousands of federal workers, and the mass layoffs under DOGE have already had a major impact on the city\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Her strategy has been to focus on finding areas where she and the new administration can work together on shared priorities. <\/p>\n

For now, Bowser appears set to stick with her approach, saying Wednesday that she is focused on \u201cmaking sure the federal surge is useful to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a morning interview with Fox 5, she and the city\u2019s police chief argued an influx of federal agents linked to Trump\u2019s takeover would improve public safety, with more officers on patrol.<\/p>\n

Police chief Pamela Smith said the city\u2019s police department is short almost 800 officers, so the extra police presence \u201cis clearly going to impact us in a positive way.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Nina Smith, the Democratic strategist, said she believes Bowser needs a course correction.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many times is it going to take before she realizes this is not someone who has got the best interests of the city at heart?\u201d she asked. \u201cI think there may need to be time for her to get tough and push back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s rhetoric, statistics<\/a> published by Washington\u2019s Metropolitan Police show violent crime has dropped in Washington since a post-pandemic peak in 2023. A recent Department of Justice report<\/a> shows that violent crime is down 35% since 2023, reaching its lowest rate in 30 years.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Ashraf Khalil and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 As National Guard troops deploy across her city as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[49627,86097,12785,7837,84,69,1854,57,57213,2055,8132,56925,50,86096,85060,80,2068,57215,322,67,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-145287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-black-lives-matter","10":"tag-christina-henderson","11":"tag-dc-wire","12":"tag-democracy","13":"tag-district-of-columbia","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-gavin-newsom","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-george-floyd","18":"tag-government-and-politics","19":"tag-military-and-defense","20":"tag-muriel-bowser","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-nina-smith","23":"tag-pamela-smith","24":"tag-politics","25":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","26":"tag-racial-injustice","27":"tag-u-s-republican-party","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115027590814048441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}