Kasie Hunt: 'Unsettling & Unprecedented': DC Mayor Reacts To Donald Trump's Police Takeover

"Mayor Muriel Bowser said President Donald Trump’s action today “is unsettling and unprecedented.” She again advocated for full statehood for Washington, DC, after Trump said he has decided to placed the city’s Metropolitan Police Department “under direct federal control” and deploying the National Guard to crack down on crime." 

Source:CNN with a good look at Mayor Muriel Browser (Democrat, Washington)

From CNN

I guess I could approach my response here in multiple ways... so that's exactly what I'm going to do. 

As someone who grew up in Bethesda, Maryland (which is literally next door to Washington) in the 1980s and mid 90s, crime was always a huge issue with this city. Which is why Washington was the homicide capital of America in the 1980s and early 90s, and 1 reason, along with the bad public education system and high poverty, why Washington went from a city of 800 thousand people or so in the 1950s and 60s, before it got it's own democratic government in 1973, to 550,000 people or so by 1995. 

But this is not Mr. Barry's Washington anymore. (Anyone familiar with Washington D.C. and it'

s modern history will get that reference) By the late 1990s, Washington solved its debt and deficit crisis. Tony Williams becomes Mayor in 1999 and really the last 25 years or so, including under Mayor Browser, Washington has been a pro-private enterprise, tough on crime city. And as a result, people have moved back into this city and now they're 700,000 people and still growing. 

And of course like any other big city, (500K people or more residents) in America, Washington has crime, serious crimes, violent crimes... seriously, violent criminals. But this is America, we have a lot of freedom, as well as access to things that can hurt innocent people. And unless Donald Trump gets his way, we will still be a free society and not a police state by the time the President leaves office, for good, in January, 2029. And because we're such a large, diverse, free country, we have more crime than most large, developed countries, especially in our big cities and metro areas, where most Americans live. And as President Trump's own DOJ has said, violent crime is down 25% so far in 2025. 

I guess my second response here is more than a question than anything else. Why now? Donald Trump ran on fighting crime and bringing down crime rates in 2024. According to his own DOJ, crime is down a quarter in 2025 alone. You would think he would be congratulating the Major the Metropolitan Police Department for that, instead of trying to take over their own police department for them. 

And my 3rd response is more humorous than anything else. If you think big government is not big enough and you want it bigger... that's why you voted for Donald Trump in 2024. That's why you voted for Deficit, Tax Hike, and Takeover Don. Who needs democracy and local government's, when The Donald is in charge of everything?

If you are familiar with authoritarian countries around the world... you know they have 1 big, thing in common: they all have national, unitarian government's. A unitarian government, especially in an undemocratic country, like Egypt, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, (just a few examples) is where most of the government power in the country, is centralized not just with the national government, but the head of state as well. So when you federalize municipal government's, even just the police department, you are telling the people there that Big Government (that some people call Uncle Sam) knows what's best for them. And you are not intelligent enough to decide for yourself who should run and govern your own city. 

MAGA will never believe this, (perhaps especially their cult leader Donald Trump) but Washington is not Greenwich Village, New York, or Haight Asbury, San Francisco, or some hippie commune in Northern California, or Maine, or some place. It's a large, well-run, pro-capitalist and private enterprise, tough on crime, big, American city. It's not some leftist hellhole where people who have it tough on life and come come from rough backgrounds, are able to get away with murder and other violent crimes. You don't believe me, spend some time here and check out all the restaurants, museums, stores, theaters, and have a great time in 1 of the greatest big cities that America has to offer. 

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