Mayor Bowser wants to make Trump takeover ‘useful’ for DC, amid democracy concerns

The mayor called the police surge in DC an “authoritarian push” in a town hall this week, but has largely spoken in favor of the law enforcement surge.

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is responding in support of President Donald Trump’s “takeover” of the city, saying she and the police chief plan to make the increased federal force “useful” for the city.

“We have been focused the last several years on hiring more MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) officers. We’re at just over 3,100 officers; we’d like to be at 3,800 officers,” Bowser said to Fox News 5. “The extent that you see the federal surge creating more arrests, taking more guns, MPD officers would do the same thing.”

The mayor and the D.C. police chief Pamela Smith spoke with the local broadcaster today to discuss President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in D.C. this week, declaring a crime emergency. The president called DC a “lawless city,” despite violent crime being at a 30-year low. The surge, which added 500 additional personnel to the city’s force, started on August 11 and will last for a period of 30 days in the nation’s capital. The White House announced that the police arrested 23 people last night through the effort.

The DC officials both spoke positively about the police takeover; Police Chief Smith called it a “great opportunity” to strengthen relationships with the city’s federal partners.

“This enhanced presence is clearly going to impact us in a positive way,” she said.

The police takeover of D.C. has made a strong impression on residents, many of whom are concerned while watching the videos of the patrol stalking the quiet streets of Georgetown at night or making arrests in Columbia Heights. A local commissioner, Anthony Lorenzo Green, filmed a TikTok video of the new police groups in Deanwood, where he identified a mix of ICE, DEA, FBI, and Homeland Security as just some of the agents that came to one of the city’s northeast neighborhoods. Green said that agents shot at individuals in the neighborhood and detained two people.

Residents have questioned seeing the different types of officers walking in tandem, which Smith called a “collaborative effort” between the agencies, saying that the plan is that they will respond to calls together. She assured that agents will have identifiable logos to show what agency they work for, and that D.C.’s collaboration with different agencies is normal.

These relationships are not new,” she said. “The surge will help me do the things that I need to do.”

Bowser insists that the coordination with US Attorney General Pam Bondi is going smoothly, whom she called “straightforward.” Though she said that she did not get a “hard measurement” of the goals the White House has for the surge.

“They regarded it as a success to have more presence and to take more guns off the streets, and we do, too,” Bower said about her conversation with the Attorney General’s office. “They said this is a surge and we are looking to evaluate it in the 30 days the order lays out.”

Bowser spoke out against Trump in a town hall on Tuesday, where she called the action an “authoritarian push,” and urged the community to act against it and to elect Democrats in 2026.

“This is a time where community needs to jump in and we all need to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our Home Rule, and get to the other side of this guy, and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push,” she said.

She also defended her city in an interview with MSNBC last Saturday, emphasizing the decrease in crime and saying that the city is “well-run” in response to comments from Trump and his officials. Trump has said D.C. is “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”

But the mayor has also said that she wants to “make the most of the additional officer support,” and has agreed to cooperate with federal officials. And today, she is standing in favor of the Trump executive order.

“The president of the United States can make an emergency declaration. It doesn’t matter what the numbers say,” she said. “What we want to make sure of is that this federal surge is useful to us. I know people have democracy concerns and want to express themselves. I just encourage everybody to be peaceful, follow the law, and go about your daily lives, including taking advantage of our great nightlife.”