WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is declaring victory in the nation’s capital, boasting that his partnership with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has turned the city into what he calls a “crime-free zone.” Now he’s pressuring blue-state governors to let him repeat the playbook.
“Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C.,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social, praising the Democrat for cooperating with his administration’s sweeping crime crackdown.
It was an unusual note of approval from a president more often at odds with Democratic city leaders. Trump claimed Bowser’s popularity surged by 25 percentage points since she agreed on Aug. 11 to welcome federal law enforcement and National Guard troops into the city — though he provided no evidence for the polling bump.
Bowser herself has credited the deployment with producing sharp drops in crime. At a press conference last week, she cited an 87% reduction in carjackings and a 45% fall in violent crime since the federal surge began. “We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer,” she said.
The numbers are eye-catching: Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that 1,599 arrests have been made in D.C. since the start of Trump’s “crime emergency” operation last month, with 165 illegal guns seized.
The operation has not involved the Guard making arrests directly but rather patrolling streets — at times armed — and assisting the Metropolitan Police Department and federal agencies including the FBI and U.S. Park Police.
Still, the president has been quick to tout the results as proof that his approach works. He contrasted Bowser’s cooperation with governors who have resisted his offers of military aid, such as Illinois’ JB Pritzker, Maryland’s Wes Moore, and California’s Gavin Newsom — whom Trump derided as “Newscum.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to say that about Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and even the crime-drenched city of Baltimore???” Trump wrote. “It can happen, and it can happen FAST! Work with us!!!”
Chicago has been a particular flashpoint. On Labor Day weekend alone, 54 people were shot and seven killed, sparking renewed calls from Trump for federal intervention. But Gov. Pritzker has rejected deploying National Guard troops, vowing instead to sue the Trump administration if it tries to send them uninvited.
In contrast, Trump struck a conciliatory tone toward New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying he would only send troops there if she requested it. “I’d love to do it if she’d like,” he told The Post. “I want to make this, like, friendly.”
For Bowser, who was polling at 53% approval as of May, the partnership with Trump is politically fraught. Earlier this year, the administration dismantled Black Lives Matter Plaza, the symbolic protest site just north of the White House, drawing condemnation from progressives. Now, Bowser is embracing a law-and-order strategy backed by a president many of her voters distrust.
Trump, for his part, is doubling down, portraying Washington’s sharp decline in crime as a personal triumph — and warning Bowser not to stray. “Congratulations to Mayor Muriel Bowser, but don’t go Woke on us,” he wrote. “D.C. is a GIANT VICTORY that never has to end!!!”
Whether the success in D.C. is sustainable remains to be seen. But as the president courts other governors to open their cities to federal troops, the capital has become his showcase — and Bowser, for now, his unlikely partner.
