Trump Threatens Federal Takeover Of New York City, Washington. Here's Why

US President Donald Trump has threatened a federal takeover of two Democratic-ruled states--New York City and Washington, DC--if local leaderships do not align with his administration's vision. Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, the President said his administration will seize control of New York City if "communist" Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor in the November polls. 

Trump's team is considering taking over governance of the capital, Washington, as it serves as the seat of the federal government. The Republican said his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was in close touch with Washington's elected mayor, Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, over the administrative control of the city. 

Take Over Of New York 

Talking about the New York administration, Trump attacked Indian-origin Democratic socialist Mamdani, saying America's most popular city will never be the same if a "communist" runs it. 

"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, without elaborating on what authority that would be.

"We're going to do something for New York. I can't tell you what yet, but we're going to make New York great again. Also, we're going to make it great again with the country."

Mamdani has been in Trump's line of fire since he edged ahead of the other contenders, including current mayor Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, to become the Democratic nominee for New York's mayoral election. 

Trump said Mamdani was "not very capable" of running New York, in his opinion.

"He's a disaster ... He's got the Democrat nomination because that shows you where the Democrats have gone. He actually wants to take over the grocery stores of John Catsimatidis," Trump said, referring to the Gristedes chief.

Trump also railed against the city's ranked-choice voting and described his relationship with Mayor Adams as a "test."

Washington Takeover Plans

Turning his focus to the nation's capital, Trump reiterated his long-standing criticism of local Democratic governance, claiming Washington was plagued by crime and inefficiency.

"We could run DC. We're looking at DC. We don't want crime in DC. We want the city to run well," he said.

"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 [Muriel Bowser], and we're testing it to see if it works."

Trump has long called for the federal takeover of Washington--which has been self-governing since 1973--arguing the city was riddled with crime. However, data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows violent crimes in the city are down 25 per cent from this time last year, and all crime is down 8 per cent.

The District of Columbia has partial autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, which grants residents the authority to elect a mayor and city council members to manage affairs. But the district's laws and budget are overseen by Congress.