WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Aug 6) suggested he may use the National Guard to police the streets of Washington, DC, in his latest threat to take over running the city that serves as the seat of the US government.
“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have to run DC. This has to be the best-run place in the country.”
Trump, who has threatened a federal takeover of the city multiple times, renewed those threats after a young staffer who was part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted over the weekend.
Musk, the billionaire former adviser to Trump who once spearheaded the DOGE effort, said the man was beaten and received a concussion. “It is time to federalise DC,” he wrote.
Asked if he was considering taking over the DC police, Trump responded affirmatively.
“We just almost lost a young man, beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him,” Trump said.
The president posted a picture of the victim, Edward Coristine, known by the nickname “Big Balls”, on social media, with blood on his face, arms, torso and legs.
“We’re going to beautify the city. We’re going to make it beautiful. And what a shame, the rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We’re not going to let it. And that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly, too,” Trump said.
A spokesman for DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to comment.
