TRUMP — AND THE GOP — CAN DO A LOT TO FIGHT CRIME IN DC. News reports are filled with stories that President Donald Trump intends to “federalize” the District of Columbia. Few include the fact that the District is already federalized, and has been since its creation in 1791.

Trump made the pledge after a former official in the DOGE effort, Edward Coristine, was badly beaten in an attempted carjacking in the city. “Crime in Washington, DC is totally out of control,” the president posted on Truth Social. “If DC doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take federal control of the city, and run this city how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of violent crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this city.”