Muriel Bowser (left), Donald Trump (AP)
US President Donald Trump is touting an unlikely alliance with Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, crediting her cooperation with his administration for what he calls a stunning collapse in the capital’s crime rates.“Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of DC has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing crime down to virtually nothing in DC,” Trump posted on Truth Social.Trump claimed Bowser’s approval rating has surged 25% since the crackdown began, framing her as a contrast to Democratic governors like Illinois’s JB Pritzker and California’s Gavin Newsom, whom he accused of “justifying violent crime.”Calling DC “a crime-free zone,” Trump credited “hard work, courage, and being smart”, and said his early use of troops had prevented Los Angeles from losing the Olympics during riots and wildfires. “Congratulations to Mayor Muriel Bowser,” he added, “but don’t go woke on us. DC is a giant victory that never has to end!!!” Bowser, for her part, touted dramatic drops in carjackings, robberies, and gun crimes since the federal surge began. “Carjackings are down 87%, violent crime is down 45%, arrests are up 20%, and illegal gun recoveries are up 12%,” she said last week. “We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer.”Attorney General Pam Bondi added that nearly 1,600 arrests have been made and 165 illegal guns seized since the operation started.The apparent partnership may not end in Washington. Trump has already threatened to deploy National Guard troops to other Democratic-run cities to impose the same brand of federal crackdown.
