Trump Says the Federal Government Should ‘Take Over’ Washington, D.C.

TIME

President Donald Trump threw his support behind congressional efforts for a federal takeover of the nation's capital, saying he approves putting the District of Columbia back under direct federal control.

Transcript

00:00Do you think D.C. should govern itself, or do you think that governing of District of Columbia should go back to Congress?

00:06I think that we should govern District of Columbia. It's so important to the D.C. situation.

00:11I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful.

00:19And I think we should take over Washington, D.C., make it safe.

00:23People are getting killed. People are being hurt.

00:26You have a great police department there, but somehow they're not utilized properly.

00:31We should govern D.C. I think the federal government should take over the governance of D.C.

00:36and run it really, really properly.

00:39And I like the mayor. I get along great with the mayor.

00:42But they're not doing the job. Too much crime. Too much graffiti.

00:46Too many tents on the lawns, these magnificent lawns, and there's tents.

00:52It's a sad thing. Homeless people all over the place, and we've got to take care of the homeless.

00:57But you can't have that in Washington, D.C.

01:00You know, when they come over to see me, like Macron is coming, and the prime minister of the U.K. is coming,

01:06and all these people are coming over to see me, we'll have ultimately President Xi, and we'll have everybody coming, right?

01:14And you can't let that be. You just can't let that happen.

01:19You can't have tents all over your once-magnificent plazas and lawns and all. You just can't do it.

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