Washington, D.C., Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser flew to the affluent Martha’s Vineyard on Thursday, while she was the middle of a battle with President Donald Trump over his decision to federalize law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
She reportedly went to pickup her daughter and is expected back in D.C. on Friday afternoon, according to WTTG.
In the midst of this back and forth power struggle, Bowser couldn’t have sent someone else to Martha’s Vineyard? The optics don’t look good.
After initially accepting Trump’s decision, Bowser pulled a 180.
She posted a letter from D.C.’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb on the social media platform X late Thursday night, stating that local leaders didn’t have to answer to Attorney General Pam Bondi or other Trump officials.
“Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President,” she wrote.
Bowser added, “We have followed the law. In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President.
We have followed the law.
In… pic.twitter.com/XfaNqLalFU
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) August 15, 2025
Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, after Bondi and the Justice Department issued an order wiping out local police policies that protected illegal immigrants.
Bondi also removed Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith from running the department and named Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner.”
This gives Cole the power to issue orders and prevents any officials in the D.C. police department from issuing commands without his approval.
Speaking to a reporter from WTTG in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Smith praised Trump’s initial decision, while Bowser begrudgingly nodded along.
“This is a great opportunity for us to build upon continuing to drive down crime with our federal law enforcement partners,” Smith said. “Remember, you’re talking about 500 additional personnel in the District of Columbia. And as you know, we’ve talked about the fact that we’re down in numbers with our police officers.”
Even Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Union Chairman Greggory Pemberton offered his support for Trump’s plan to bring in more federal law enforcement to the capital, including national guard troops.
“We completely agree with the president that the crime in the District of Columbia is out of control and something needs to be done,” Pemberton said.
“In 2020, the D.C. city council passed an enormous amount of legislation that handcuffed police officers, exposes them to administrative, civil, and even criminal liability, even when they do their jobs properly,” he continued.
Pemberton added, “The fact that we need help from federal law enforcement and maybe even the National Guard shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
So, Bowser claims her city under siege from the federal government, major orders are being handed down, lawsuits get filed — and she leaves town while Trump and his team clean up D.C.?
She should have treated this assistance from the federal government as a welcome boost, given the surge of crime, drugs, filth, and murder in our nation’s capital.
Instead, she bashed Trump and went to a billionaire beach town.
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