Overview
- President Trump invoked the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi and deploy about 800 National Guard troops to Washington.
- During CNN’s NewsNight, host Abby Phillip quipped that “Donald Trump makes himself Batman and the nation’s capital is Gotham City” while dubbing him “crime-fighter-in-chief.”
- Conservative commentators and social-media users seized on the ‘Batman’ comparison, circulating memes and praising the nickname as enhancing Trump’s tough-on-crime image.
- D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser denounced the federal takeover as “unsettling and unprecedented,” warning it threatens local autonomy and raises constitutional concerns.
- Opponents questioned the necessity of the action by citing Metropolitan Police Department data showing violent crime is down 26% year-to-date despite roughly 100 homicides so far this year.