President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested a federal takeover of New York City and Washington.
The comments came when Trump, during a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House, was asked about New York City’s upcoming mayoral election.
Trump attacked Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, and ticked through the other contenders, including Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, though he declined to endorse anyone.
“We’re not going to have — if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to,” Trump said.
Trump didn’t elaborate on what authority that would be as he then turned his focus to the nation’s capital.
“We could run D.C. We’re looking at D.C. We don’t want crime in D.C. We want the city to run well,” he said. He said his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was working with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, July 8, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Trump has long called for the federal government to takeover Washington, complaining that local leaders weren’t effective and arguing the city has become riddled with crime.
According to preliminary data from the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime is down 25% from this time last year and all crime is down 8%.
“We would run it so good, it would be run so proper, we’d get the best person to run it,” Trump said about Washington on Tuesday. “And we know the crime would be down to a minimum, would be much less. And, you know, we’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you.”
“We want a capital that’s run flawlessly, and it wouldn’t be hard for us to do it. And we’ve had a good relationship with the mayor and we’re testing it to see if it works,” he said.
The district has some autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, which grants residents the ability to manage affairs by electing a mayor and city council members. But final oversight of the district’s laws and budget are left to Congress. In 2023, for example, the U.S. House of Representatives blocked two local bills from going into effect, including one that would have updated the district’s criminal code.
Trump circled back to talking about New York City, railing against the city’s ranked-choice voting and describing his relationship with Mayor Adams as a “test.”
“New York City will run properly,” he said. “We’re going to bring New York back.”
