‘Hands Are Tied’: Mayor Says There’s Not Much She Can Do About Trump’s Crackdown
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said that his “hands were tied” Tuesday in response to President Donald Trump who sparked the National Guard to fight crime in the national capital, according to Fox5 DC
The president announced on August 11 a “public security emergency” at DC and deployed the National Guard to restore “law and order”. Bowser told journalists that his office and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) “follow the law” because their hands are bound by the authority of Trump on the issue, Fox5 reported. (Related: DC’s resident says Washington Post City is sure after the exit has granted him anonymity for security)
“I believe that the DC president’s point of view is shaped by his experience of the era covers during his first mandate. And it is true that it is more difficult times linked to certain problems,” Bowser told journalists, according to Fox5. “We experienced a crime of crime after the cash register, but we worked quickly to set up laws and tactics that made violent offenders from our streets and gave our police officers more tools, which is why we have noticed a huge decrease in crime.”
Bowser praised recent crime statistics in a position on Tuesday on X, declaring that the efforts of his administration worked and that “we do not remove the foot from the gas”.
Violent crimes at DC are at its lowest level in 30 years.
We had an unacceptable peak in 2023, so we modified our laws and strategies. Now, crime levels are not only down compared to 2023, but before the pandemic.
Our tactics work and we do not remove the foot from the gas. pic.twitter.com/uhpct8rdpg
– Mayor Muriel Bowser (@mayorbowser) August 12, 2025
The National Guard will retain MPD control for 30 days under the emergency order, according to Fox5. The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists that the administration would re -evaluate itself after the increase in the first 30 days.
“But in these 30 days, our goal is to ensure that it is the most effective operation possible and that we delete as many criminals on the street,” said Leavitt, according to Fox5. “And we clean DC as best we can, and we work with the Metropolitan Police Department to do this.”
Violent crimes in the national capital fell by 26% in 2024. There were 100 homicides in 2025 against 113 the previous year, according to MPD Crime Tracker. In May, two staff of the Israeli Embassy were shot dead outside the Jewish Museum capital and a month later, in June, the congress trainee, Eric Tarpinien-Jachyme, 21, was shot in a gang-related incident. (Related: “Just the beginning”: Jeanine Pirro shares the next step in the repression of the crime to DC)
A DC resident told Washington Post on Monday that he thought that the city was global “safe” but had expressed its concerns about threats and gang groups that were walking in the city “checking cars and things unlocked to fly”. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity with the position due to “personal security concerns”.
Washington’s American lawyer, DC, Jeanine Pirro, said at a press conference on August 7, the DC council rules prevented him from delivering more severe sentences to delinquents and later prevent criminals.
“We have to have the ability to let people know they will be responsible,” said Pirro.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to the request for comments from the daily appellant.
