WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday invited members of the media to ride along with the D.C. Metropolitan Police, saying, in response to a question from Breitbart News, that his administration is “going to be very open about” the federalization of the city’s police department.
Trump opened up his event at the Kennedy Center to questions from the press after announcing he will be hosting the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.
Breitbart News asked the president if he would encourage members of the press, many of whom insist that crime in Washington, DC, is down, to ride along with D.C. police to understand the severity of lawlessness in the nation’s capital.
“Sure, it’s okay to me, if they want to do it,” Trump said. “We’re going to work with the D.C. police. They have a lot of very good people in there, not all, but a lot of very good, very, very professional. And, you know, we have a big force. I think they said 3,500. You know, they’re always asking the mayor, who’s a very nice woman, ‘We got to do the job.’”
Trump combatted media narratives that contend crime is down and said numbers that suggest so have been skewed.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on President Donald Trump’s plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington, Monday, August 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“We’ve worked with the mayor for six months, and she’s been here for many years, and the numbers are worse than ever. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re not,” he said. “The whole statistical charts that they made, the whole thing is a rigged deal. They got rid of the guy… because he didn’t want to do the numbers the way they wanted to, and they put their own numbers out. They said, ‘It’s the best in 20 years.’ No, it’s the worst in 20 years.”
Trump, who has made transparency a hallmark of his administration, invited members of the press to ride along in the name of transparency, so long as they feel safe to do so.
“We’re going to be very open about what we’re doing, so if the media wants to ride with police — if they want to do it, if they feel it’s safe — that would be okay,” he concluded.
