In a stunning rebuke, the District of Columbia has taken President Donald Trump to federal court, accusing him of staging an illegal and politically motivated “hostile takeover” of the city’s police force.
Filed on Aug. 15 by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, the lawsuit says Trump brazenly abused his power under the 1973 Home Rule Act — a law that was never meant to give the president unchecked authority over the nation’s capital.
The filing calls Trump’s actions a textbook case of federal overreach, arguing that the president’s authority is limited to “federal purposes,” not running the entire Metropolitan Police Department like his personal security detail.
“This administration is abusing its limited authority, trampling on D.C.’s right to self-governance, and putting residents’ safety at risk,” Schwalb said, accusing Trump of creating “operational havoc” for no legitimate reason.
The lawsuit targets not just Trump, but also Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose Aug. 14 executive order named DEA chief Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner” and suspended three local immigration policies — an act D.C. officials call a blatant power grab with zero legal basis.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, standing firm, echoed the lawsuit’s claims: “No federal law conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
The move comes after Trump sent hundreds of National Guard troops into D.C. on Aug. 11 and seized control of MPD — despite violent crime in the city dropping 26% in 2025. Critics say this wasn’t about crime at all, but about political theater and a show of force ahead of a heated election season.
Even the Home Rule Act’s 30-day limit on federal control is under threat. Trump has already announced plans to push legislation through Congress to extend his grip on D.C.’s police — boasting that Republicans will back him “unanimously.”
For D.C., the message is clear: this is more than a fight over crime policy — it’s a fight over who runs the capital, the people’s elected officials or a president trying to play strongman.
