“The most significant thing that we are highlighting today is the area of crime that was most troubling for us in 2023,” she said, noting that since the surge of federal officers, carjackings fell by 87% compared to the same period last year. “We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of gun goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer. So this surge has been important to us.”

The mayor said she spoke with Trump earlier in the day, recalling their first meeting after his reelection. “I was reminded that the president’s interest in cities predates his time in office, and his knowledge of D.C. had significantly increased,” Bowser said. She described the call as a “courtesy meeting,” emphasizing that more substantive discussions had taken place with Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Her positive assessment comes just days after Trump warned that she “better get her act straight, or she won’t be mayor for long.” Asked whether her upbeat tone was a response to that threat, Bowser downplayed the idea. She again described her conversation with Trump as a courtesy call and declined to go into detail but said she outlined both concerns and benefits of the surge, stressing that the influx of federal officers had expanded MPD’s capacity on the streets.

Her comments on Wednesday contrasted with the response from other Democratic leaders in the region a couple of weeks ago, when Trump first announced the federal takeover. At that time, the D.C. Council passed a unanimous resolution denouncing the move as an unwarranted intrusion on home rule.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) pledged to revive legislation giving the district authority over its own police force and the National Guard, while D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said he was prepared to consider legal action to protect the rights and safety of residents.

Bowser has instead chosen cooperation. Although she called the takeover “unsettling and unprecedented,” she said she was not surprised, given Trump’s rhetoric, and has focused on coordinating the federal presence to deliver results on crime. This marks a shift from her confrontational relationship with the president during his first term, such as over Black Lives Matter Plaza and federal deployments during protests.

Still, she has not been fully aligned with the federal strategy. Last week, Bowser publicly criticized the decision to send National Guard troops from Republican-led states into the district.

“This doesn’t make sense. The numbers on the ground in the district don’t support 1,000 people from other states coming to Washington, D.C.,” she said, calling the move illogical and questioning why the military would be deployed “in an American city, to police Americans.”

She noted she has no authority over the D.C. National Guard or any other state guards but argued that the move “kind of makes the point that this is not about D.C. crime.”

On Wednesday, Bowser faced pointed questions about masked federal agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions, and immigrant families fearful of sweeps.

“We do not have any information on anybody who was detained by ICE as far as I know, and I am concerned for sure, because we think anything that we do … is focused on violent crime,” she said, adding that she was “devastated by people living in fear” and reiterating her call for Congress to enact immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

BOWSER DISMISSES NEED FOR STATE TROOPS BEING SENT TO DC

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said her department was working to coordinate local and federal efforts, acknowledging that “clearly, there is some hesitation” in communities but defending the operations as thoughtful, targeted, and data-driven.

Asked how far she was willing to go in accommodating federal directives, Bowser said proposals to weaken use-of-force standards or remove body cameras “seem kind of too far” but stressed that such requests had not yet been made.