Last Tuesday, President Trump threatened a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., after a DOGE employee was beaten up when he faced down a bunch of carjacking thugs. “If D.C. 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s options are limited, and a full-scale takeover would require an act of Congress. It is also probably dependent on how well it would be received by D.C. residents.
“The city doesn’t particularly like him, and he doesn’t particularly like the city,” George Derek Musgrove, an associate history professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, recently told NPR. Less than 7 percent of the District’s voters pulled the lever for Trump last November. It seems that most would reject a takeover.
But would they?
A big reason they might not is auto theft, which is out of control in the nation’s capital. Thousands of residents have fallen victim in the last few years. In 2023, auto thefts reached a 15-year high of 6,773 in D.C. That declined to 5,126 in 2024 but is still way up over the 2,186 that occurred in 2019. A car theft is an incredibly exasperating and infuriating experience, the type of experience that could make Trump seizing power over D.C. seem very appealing to many residents.
I would know.
I live in Northeast D.C. and own a 2016 Kia Soul. Recent model Kias have a design flaw in the ignition that makes it very easy for thieves to steal. It gave rise to a phenomenon known as the “Kia Boys.” It started with a small group of punks stealing Kias and Hyundais (which have a similar design flaw) and uploading videos of their thefts to TikTok. The videos demonstrated how to take advantage of the design flaw. The trend quickly spread to cities across the U.S. It got so bad that police departments, including Washington, D.C., were giving away steering wheel locks. The Kia Boys have had a great time, driving stolen cars at high rates of speed. The resulting crashes have killed at least eight people.
On a Sunday afternoon in May 2023, I decided to take my son out for a hamburger. However, I could not find my Kia. My son and I walked around the block twice before I remembered where I had parked it. The car was gone. All that was left was broken glass on the ground from the window the thieves had smashed.
I called the police. A very nice police woman showed up and took a report. She told me I should have my car back in a week. I didn’t believe her. But, lo and behold, four days later, I received a text from the Washington, D.C. police that my Kia had been located. It turns out police cars have technology called automated license plate readers that enable them to identify license plates of stolen cars.
Eureka!
My joy was short-lived. Upon arriving at the tow yard where my car had been brought, I discovered that much of the plastic covering the steering column had been ripped away. Smashed glass littered the passenger side of the car. Gone were my registration and insurance papers. The thieves stole all property in the car, including a Shrinky-dink which hung from the rearview mirror. My son made it when he was in preschool, and on it were the words, “I love you, Daddy!”
After I got my car out of the tow yard (at a cost of $300), I found three trash bags filled with stolen clothes in the back. I called the police to ask what I should do. The officer I spoke with advised me that I should give them away to Goodwill.
“Wait, shouldn’t I bring them to you?” I asked.
“No. We don’t have the resources to take fingerprints off the bags,” she replied.
After looking at the Washington, D.C. budget, I believed her. In fiscal year 2020, Washington, D.C., spent $621 million on police and $31 million on forensics. Then, in May of 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. In the ensuing hysteria, Black Lives Matter organizations persuaded multiple cities to defund the police. Washington, D.C., was one of the municipalities that obliged. By FY 2024, the D.C. City Council had slashed the police budget to $505 million, a cut of 23 percent. The forensics budget increased slightly to $34 million. However, if the forensics budget had kept up with inflation, the city council would have spent $38 million.
I sent an email to one of my city council members, Robert White, urging more money be spent on police. The response I got back was a classic example of politicians’ second-most favorite indoor sport, buck-passing. According to White, the police budget was cut because “we have many [police] retirements and don’t fund for positions we’re not likely to be able to fill.” He cited a survey showing that the retirements were the result of “culture, burnout, sex discrimination, lack of adequate childcare, and cultural issues.” What might have caused the problems with culture and burnout went unmentioned in his email. He also blamed the D.C. crime lab and 911 call center, both of which he described as “a mess.” Indeed, they have had serious problems, but that raises the question of who was supposed to be minding the store?
D.C. residents who have had their car stolen experience not only anger and frustration but also the cost of getting the car replaced or fixed. Fixing my Kia cost $3,600. Add to that a city council that shirks accountability for the mess it created, and quite a few residents are probably asking themselves, “Can Trump run things better?”
This is the second time Trump has talked about taking over Washington, D.C. He first brought it up in February. At that time, I dismissed it out of hand. Most crime has been on the decline in D.C. over the last two years. The city council has seemingly come to its senses and increased the police budget to $573 million for FY 2025. Additionally, the less the federal government gets involved in state and local affairs, the better.
Then, in May of this year — on my birthday, no less — I awoke to find that thieves had smashed the rear passenger window on my Kia. They were unable to steal it this time as the flaw in the ignition had been fixed. Still, it cost me $220 to replace the window.
Now, Trump’s new takeover threat seems rather appealing to me. I’d bet there are a lot of other people in D.C. who feel the same way.
READ MORE:
DC Has Had Its Chance to Self-Govern. It Failed. Enough Already.