DC officials brace for Trump’s reign

You better watch out, you better not cry… President-elect Donald Trump is coming to town. And according to a recent Associated Press report, he’s making a list and checking it twice — that’s to say, he’s looking to enforce laws.

It’s only November, but officials in DC are already preparing for the so-called disastrous effects of Trump’s reign come January. “We have been discussing and planning for many months in the case that the District has to defend itself and its values,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser in a briefing. 

Who knows what disasters will befall us on January 6 when Congress convenes to count the electoral votes — but Bowser is prepared to request the support of the DC National Guard on that day.

“We just have to do our best and hold on for another few years. We have to figure out how to make it work,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson. “Unlike millions of voters around the country, I actually believe the man when he speaks. He said what he’s going to do.”

What has Donald Trump said he would do in Washington DC? In many of his rallies, he has promised to clean up the crime-ridden city. “We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation in Washington DC, and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so there is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime,” Trump said in Florida. “We’re going to stop the murder and crime,” from a rally in Atlanta. “If you’d like to go from here to, let’s say Washington, to look after we fix the capital up which will take like, approximately like — quickly,” he said at another rally. “You want to go there and you want to be able to enjoy it. And you don’t want to be mugged or shot or killed in our capital which has become very unsafe, it’s horribly run, graffiti stained, and we’re going to fix it very quickly and beautifully.”

Trump may have been referring to the large inscription of “Black Lives Matter” on the street leading up to the White House which was instigated by the “horrible” Mayor Bowser back in 2020. She had the words painted on the street in response to Trump declaring a lockdown amid George Floyd protests that included low-flying helicopters.

“Even when Trump was out of the White House, activist Republicans on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly summoned Bowser and members of the DC Council — often to publicly grill them about local crime rates,” the AP gasps.

Why would they have done that? Well, the District of Columbia Police Department reports a 16 percent decrease in crime overall from 2023 to 2024 to date. But crime increased by 26 percent from 2022 to 2023, an issue that Cockburn’s Spectator colleagues have covered extensively, including in an award-nominated cover package.

“I can’t predict what they’re going to try to do to us, I can just prepare to respond,” Councilmember Henderson added. Don’t worry Ms. Henderson: he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake.