President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday a federal acquisition of New York and Washington.
The comments occurred when Trump, during a meeting of his cabinet at the White House, asked about the next elections as mayor of New York City.
Trump attacked Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, and passed the other contenders, including Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, although he refused to support anyone.
“We are not going to have, if a communist is chosen to direct New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power in the White House to execute places when we have to do it,” Trump said.
Trump did not explain the authority that would be when he focused on the capital of the nation.
“We could direct DC, we are looking at DC, we do not want the crime in DC to want the city to work well,” he said. He said his chief of cabinet, Susie Wiles, was working with the mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the White House Cabinet Room in Washington, on July 8, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Images
Trump has long asked the federal government to take Washington, complaining that local leaders were not effective and arguing that the city has stayed with a crime.
According Preliminary data From the Metropolitan Police Department, the violent crime has dropped 25% from this last year and all crime has dropped 8%.
“We would execute it so well, it would execute so appropriate that we would get the best person to execute it,” Trump said about Washington on Tuesday. “And we know that crime would be minimized, it would be much less. And, you know, we are thinking of doing it, to be honest with you.”
“We want a capital that works without problems, and it would not be difficult for us to do it. And we have had a good relationship with the mayor and we are testing it to see if it works,” he said.
The district has some autonomy under the Law of the Interior of 1973, which gives residents the ability to administer issues by choosing a mayor and members of the municipal council. But the final supervision of the laws and the district budget are left to Congress. In 2023, for example, the United States Representatives Chamber blocked two local bills to enter into force, including one that would have updated the District Criminal Code.
Trump spoke again about New York City, criticizing the city’s classified election vote and describing his relationship with Mayor Adams as a “test.”
“New York City will run correctly,” he said. “We are going to bring New York back.”
