President Donald Trump said Monday he would call a national emergency and federalize Washington, D.C., if the city’s police department stops cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, escalating a dispute that critics say amounts to federal overreach in the nation’s capital.
The threat came after Mayor Muriel Bowser said the Metropolitan Police Department would not cooperate with ICE on providing information about individuals living in or entering the country illegally. Trump posted the warning on his social media platform, saying he would step in to prevent a return to higher crime levels if local-federal cooperation ended.
Trump has already taken a series of actions that have deepened federal involvement in D.C. policing. He earlier placed the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and dispatched federal agents, including ICE officers and other Department of Homeland Security personnel, to patrol city streets. The length and scope of that federal mission have not been publicly clarified.
In his post, Trump blamed what he called “Radical Left Democrats” for pressuring Bowser to notify the federal government about the city’s non-cooperation with ICE. He said on Truth Social that the city was seeing a sharp decline in crime as a result of the federal presence, adding, “To the people and businesses of Washington, DC, DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!”
City and federal officials have offered mixed responses. Bowser’s office did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Trump’s post. Earlier this year Bowser praised the surge of federal officers for contributing to declines in crime and signed an order requiring the city to coordinate with federal law enforcement, even as public protests and legal challenges followed the deployment.
Tensions in the capital rose after an August deployment of National Guard troops and federal agents that Trump described as an effort to "re-establish law, order, and public safety" amid what he called a spike in crime. Thousands of protesters demonstrated this month in response to that deployment, and more than 2,000 troops have been reported patrolling parts of the city.
Legal and operational questions surround both the federal takeover of the metropolitan police and any potential declaration of a national emergency. The D.C. National Guard is unique among state guard units in that it reports directly to the president unless otherwise directed; by contrast, the National Guard typically answers to state governors unless federally mobilized. Officials have not publicly detailed the statutory basis for federalizing the Metropolitan Police or the specific triggers that would prompt a national emergency declaration in this context.
Law enforcement checkpoints and the presence of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers in neighborhoods have drawn public attention and debate over civil liberties, public safety and jurisdiction. City leaders and civil rights groups have criticized the federal deployments as excessive and politically motivated, while Trump and his allies have argued they are necessary to maintain order.
Officials on both sides have not set a public timeline for resolving the dispute. The White House has declined to provide additional details beyond the president’s social media posts, and Bowser’s office has not issued a formal response to the latest threat. The issue adds to an ongoing debate about federal authority in the District of Columbia, the role of ICE in local policing and the balance between public safety and local control in the capital.