Trump is imposing martial law in DC on the flimsiest pretext

However you slice it, President Trump has implemented de facto martial law in the District of Columbia. He declared an emergency, seized control of the 3,100-member Metropolitan Police Department, unnecessarily called out the National Guard — and no one except the federal courts can stop him.

With crime down in the District, the takeover is a grotesquely incompetent pretextual policy that sets a bad precedent, and perhaps a chilling dry run for things to come in other blue cities such as Baltimore, Oakland and even New York City.

Implementing Trump’s executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed D.C.’s mayor to recognize Terrance Cole, head of the DEA, as “emergency police commissioner.”

Trump’s action was so at odds with the 1973 Home Rule Act that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb sued to enjoin the unprecedented takeover. “The Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law,” Schwalb tweeted on Aug. 15. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule D.C. has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”

Following a hearing before D.C. District Judge Ana Reyes, the court directed the Justice Department to revamp Trump’s order. The DEA administrator will be demoted from police chief to a liaison to the D.C. government, but the distinction is without a difference. The Trump administration remains in control of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Although the judge said Trump might enlist local officers to help enforce immigration laws, the court did not definitively rule on what is the real guts of the case: whether Trump can commandeer D.C. cops to enforce immigration violations despite District laws and policies to the contrary. That issue is likely to be resolved this week. Depending on which way Judge Reyes goes, the D.C. government could comply with Trump’s crusade to enforce immigration law or just give it lip service, stirring the bubbling cauldron of District home rule.

Trump’s assertion of raw police power diverts attention from his soft spots: the mysterious Epstein files, the failed summit with Vladimir Putin and a sputtering economy. But his action also projects autocratic rule, and one does not preclude the others.

To be sure, crime must be stopped, particularly juvenile crime. We still have a rule of law. But Trump’s approach doesn’t pass the laugh test.

What is there about street crime committed by juveniles, or crimes of trespass and disorderly conduct involving the homeless for just camping out, that requires military action and a federal takeover? And aren’t there enough billions for ICE in Trump’s big, beautiful budget to do the trick?

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt left no doubt that the takeover will target the homeless, who “will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services. If they refuse, they will be subjected to fines or jail time.”

The weight of the takeover falls on members of the Black community, who make up roughly half of the District’s population.

National security scholar Lindsay P. Cohn told reporters that while National Guard units are commonly deployed for emergencies within their own states, this “is really strange because essentially nothing is happening, Crime is going down. We don’t have major protests or civil disturbances. There is no significant resistance from states to federal immigration policies. There is very little evidence anything big is likely to happen soon.”

Trump’s army of MAGA fearmongers are lining up to back him to the hilt. Far-right political commentator Benny Johnson tweeted, “When D.C. Defunded their police, the city turned into a deadly war zone. Every resident was terrorized.”

Surely, he jests.

And Kari Lake, the defeated Arizona politico charged with dismantling the Voice of America, posted a picture of a discarded syringe she encountered while taking her dog on a morning walk. She added that her dog was unharmed by the experience — not even eaten by migrants.

As though federal takeover of the police is not enough to streamline District law enforcement, about 800 National Guardsmen arrived at the D.C. Armory to report for duty. It is unclear whether they will be armed.

Humvees and troops have appeared along the National Mall, a day after Trump issued officers a far-reaching mandate to “do whatever the hell they want” to curb crime. Joining the party will be a number of additional Guardsman from four red states, just in case the D.C. Guardsman find the juveniles, migrants and homeless people overwhelming.

Journalist Philip Bump reported that 43 cities in the states sending troops to D.C. have higher violent crime rates than Washington does. The appearance, if not the reality, of martial law is complete.

Under the court-brokered stipulation, the White House has clear control. “We plan to work with the D.C. police,” said Leavitt, “but ... ultimately the President is in charge of” the police department and is “working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city.” But who has ever been standing in their way? Must be the Democrats.

Of course, much of what Trump has said is false, inaccurate or overblown. How will the National Guard, untrained in law enforcement, enforce the law? Trump controls Congress — if things are as bad as he says, why doesn’t he ask it to act? Need he be reminded that we have three branches of government?

In D.C., the mayor seems to acknowledge that there is serious work to be done, demanding a holistic approach to juvenile crime. But fearmongering, federalizing the police force and putting troops on the streets of our nation’s capital is surely executive overreach. As the old saying goes, when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

It is unclear whether Trump’s takeover order will be in place for 30 days as the law limits it or indefinitely. Meanwhile, Americans will have to live in fear of their own government, which strangely appears to be training its sights on them.

James D. Zirin, author and legal analyst, is a former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District. He is also the host of the public television talk show and podcast Conversations with Jim Zirin.