Supporters of President Donald Trump have said for years that he would clean up Washington, D.C. While they were usually talking about the federal government, it turns out Trump is cleaning up the district as well.
Trump posted on social media that Washington must clean up “all of the unsightly homeless encampments in the City, specifically including the ones outside of the State Department, and near the White House.” That was followed up with a call to Mayor Muriel Bowser, who immediately ordered an encampment near the State Department to be cleared. Bowser gave residents one day’s notice to vacate despite the city’s homeless policy that requires two weeks’ notice to leave.
Bowser is backing off in other respects, too. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) renewed GOP efforts to rename “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” the two blocks where Bowser had the city paint a giant “mural” on the road. (The “mural” is just the phrase “Black Lives Matter” in giant block letters). In response, Bowser is having it painted over. With Republicans controlling both chambers and Trump in the White House, Bowser is trying to back down before Republicans actually flex that power, painting it as something that was always part of her plan despite her calling it a “permanent monument.”
Meanwhile, the city has removed the “sanctuary city” page from its website, which follows Bowser saying last month that she no longer uses that phrase herself. After Trump’s win in 2016, Bowser was a proud part of the “Resistance.” She repeatedly and fervently defended the city’s status as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. But with a more focused Trump administration this time, Bowser has rapidly backpedaled on this issue.
CONSTRUCTION CREWS BEGIN DISMANTLING BLM PLAZA NEAR WHITE HOUSE
Bowser saw that Republicans were champing at the bit to get involved in the district’s governance, which included them successfully rolling back some of Washington’s soft-on-crime reforms with President Joe Biden in office. If Republicans were able to push that through with a Democratic president, Trump taking the White House meant the GOP could and would jump into other issues. That threat alone has Bowser cleaning up the district, clearly against her own will, given her political track record.
This is another win in the column for Trump in the early days of his presidency. More importantly, it is a win for residents of Washington, who will no longer have their taxpayer dollars promote hateful movements, be used to protect illegal immigrants, or be wasted while the city lets homeless encampments grow out of control.