WASHINGTON (AP) — The left sees President Donald Trump’s attempted takeover of Washington law enforcement as part of a multifront march to autocracy — “vindictive authoritarian rule,” as one activist put it — and as an extraordinary thing to do in rather ordinary times on the streets of the capital. To the right, it’s a bold move to fracture the crust of Democratic urban bureaucracy and make D.C. a better place to live.
Where that debate settles — if it ever does — may determine whether Washington, a symbol for America in all its granite glory, history, achievement, inequality and dysfunction, becomes a model under the imprint of Trump for how cities are policed, cleaned up and run, or ruined.
Under the name of his Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Trump put some 800 National Guard troops on Washington streets this past week, declaring at the outset, “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”
Grunge was also on his mind. “If our capital is dirty, our whole country is dirty, and they don’t respect us.”
He then upped the stakes by declaring federal control of the district’s police department and naming an emergency chief. That set off alarms and prompted local officials to sue to stop the effort. “I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
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