President Trump said on Wednesday that the federal government should take over Washington, D.C., wading into the decades-old and divisive issue of how the nation’s capital is run.
“I think we should govern District of Columbia,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful.”
Mr. Trump’s comments put him in the camp of Republicans who want to end the local government system in Washington, and in opposition to a majority of local residents and many Democrats who want the District of Columbia to become the 51st state.
Home rule, with a catch
The people of Washington have been able to elect their mayor and a council to run local affairs since 1973, when Congress approved home rule for the district.
But there are limits under the Home Rule Act. Congress reviews all legislation passed by the Council of the District of Columbia before it can become law, and has the power to amend or repeal laws. Congress also has authority over the city’s budget, and the president appoints the district’s judges.
Washington residents got the right to vote for president and vice president in 1961 through the 23rd Amendment. But the district’s 700,000 residents — more than the population of Vermont or Wyoming — effectively have no representation in Congress. They have a delegate in the House of Representatives who can participate in committees and legislative debates but cannot vote on bills with the full chamber.
‘Taxation without representation’
For Washington residents, the fact that they pay federal taxes but have no voice in Congress has long stung. In 2000, the city even added “Taxation Without Representation” to its standard license plates. And in 2016, an overwhelming majority of residents — 86 percent — voted in favor of statehood for the District of Columbia.
“Just like you, we raise our families, pay our taxes, serve on juries, fight for our country and work together to create strong, caring communities,” reads a website on statehood run by the city’s government.
Some advocates of statehood have also framed it as a racial justice issue. Almost 45 percent of Washington’s population is Black, according to data from the city government, which has said that if it became a state, the District of Columbia would be “the only plurality-Black state in the country.”
The idea of statehood also has strong support among Democrats, not least because Washington’s voters have skewed heavily in favor of the party. Based on those electoral patterns, statehood for the District of Columbia would effectively guarantee two more Democrats in the Senate.
A no-go for Republicans
Repeated efforts over decades to put the District of Columbia on a path to statehood have failed in Congress. There has been staunch opposition from Republicans, who have introduced legislation of their own to water down or even eliminate home rule for the District of Columbia. They have also called Democrat-backed pushes for statehood unconstitutional power grabs.
Republican members of Congress have often accused the city’s government of incompetence and inaction, especially on crime. Some have argued that the only way to effectively run Washington is through federal governance.
Mr. Trump repeated that criticism on Wednesday, saying there was “too much crime, too much graffiti” in the city, necessitating a federal takeover.
In the 1990s, Washington had one of the highest murder rates among major U.S. cities, but there has been a significant drop since then. Total violent crime in 2024 was the lowest it had been in the district in more than 30 years, according to police data.
