Donald Trump seems to have a new political habit. Whenever a city appears ready to elect a progressive mayor, talk of federal intervention is never far behind. New York received that warning first, and now Washington DC appears to be next in line.
The latest example arrived on Thursday when a reporter asked Trump how he would feel if DC councilmember Janeese Lewis George won the city’s Democratic primary next week. Trump did not spend much time considering the question before offering a familiar response.
“Well, I wouldn’t like it, and maybe we should take back Washington and run it on a federal basis,” he said. “We won’t put up with it. We’re not gonna lose our businesses.”
Q: Here in Washington DC, there’s a Democratic primary for mayor. One of the two leading candidates is running a Zohran Mamdani campaign focusing on socialist policies. How would you feel if she wins?
TRUMP: Maybe we take back Washington and run it on a federal basis. We won’t… pic.twitter.com/H3E69bXzdW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 11, 2026
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The candidate drawing Trump’s attention is Lewis George, a 37-year-old democratic socialist running on a platform centered around affordable housing, lowering living costs and strengthening public services. Her campaign has drawn comparisons to New York City’s newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won on many of the same themes.
That comparison is unlikely to comfort Trump.
Before Mamdani even took office, Trump floated the possibility of deploying federal troops to New York and even suggested he could be arrested. Most of those threats never materialized, though battles over federal funding proved to be another matter entirely.
A similar clash in Washington would not be difficult to imagine.
Lewis George has never been shy about her views on Trump. Last year, after he deployed the National Guard and assumed authority over Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, she described the move as “a direct attack on the 700,000 residents of DC.”
Before long, his answer turned into a lengthy review of what he sees as Washington’s success story under his watch. Fountains, swimming pools, restaurants and crime statistics all received a mention.
“We had 22 fountains that are all working, not one of them worked for years. For 25 years, 40 years, 58 years,” he said. “The pool, didn’t work from — it was 1928 it was built. It always leaked because it was done in stone. Now, it’s done properly.”
Trump also claimed crime in Washington was “92% down” and predicted it would soon be “close to 100%,” adding: “You always have some whack job somewhere, but we will be close to 100%.”
Still, beneath the fountain tour sits a reality that gives Trump’s comments far more significance than they might initially seem to have.
Washington is not a state, which means the president holds enormous authority over the city. A president can take control of the police department and exercise powers that would normally belong to the mayor and city council. Trump has already used those powers once during his current term, making the latest warning harder to dismiss as political theater.
Featured image via X screengrab
