Senator and pastor Raphael Warnock recalled the time he was asked to give the closing address at the annual Congressional Dinner in Washington. “Maybe it’s an exorcism, since we’re meeting in what used to be the Trump International Hotel,” he thought.
That was last year, when the specter of Donald Trump seemed to have been banished from the nation’s capital forever. But like all the best horror movies, there are sequels. Next month, when Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, he will return to a city he openly despises — a sentiment largely shared by both sides.
Trump lost the District of Columbia Republican primary to Nikki Haley. He lost the presidential election there to Democrat Kamala Harris by a margin of 86 percentage points. Still, he has vowed to overhaul the capital, threaten its political autonomy and hire billionaire Elon Musk to cut the federal workforce.
Author, journalist and socialite Sally Quinn said: People are depressed. I had dinner with some people from Washington last night, and I think everyone was very calm and not in a very cheerful or celebratory mood. I don’t know anyone who is in the Christmas spirit right now. ”
During his first term, Mr. Trump, a New Yorker and current resident of Florida, truly owned Washington, a city of about 700,000 that was home to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, singer Marvin Gaye and comedian Dave Chappelle. I never accepted it.
The only D.C. restaurant he patronized during his presidency was his own restaurant, where he ordered a well-done steak with ketchup at BLT Prime at the Trump International Hotel, a half-mile from the White House. He has since sold the hotel and the new restaurant is being run by José Andrés, a Spanish-American chef and outspoken critic of President Trump.
The former president disdained Washington rituals. He was the only president to never attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors. He also missed the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. In late 2019, President Trump attended a World Series game against the Washington Nationals, only to be met with loud boos and chants of “Lock him up!” and “Impeach Trump!”
In 2020, Washington was thrown into chaos by the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protesters. Before President Trump posed for a photo with a Bible outside the church, tear gas was fired at nearby peaceful protesters outside the White House. In response, DC painted “Black Lives Matter” on nearby streets and created Black Lives Matter Plaza.
He then lost the presidential election. First, the city erupted with joy as people celebrated in the streets. Then, on January 6, 2021, a riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead. Washington was shaken, but two weeks later, when they saw Trump leave the White House, they thought he was gone for good.
Quinn recalled. “This is a Democratic town. People are in a state of shock and disbelief, trying to figure out how to get over January 6th. There are mistakes and mistakes made by Democrats that are far worse than January 6th.” What did the Democrats do that didn’t get people’s attention? You have a criminal indicted as an elected president. How is that possible?”
Trump’s hotel is now under different ownership, so it remains to be seen where his allies and supporters will congregate. Quinn recalled that several people had gathered at Café Milano in Georgetown, much to the dismay of local residents. “One night there were about 10 Trump people there and there was so much noise in the room that instead of everyone getting up and starting singing ‘La Marseillaise’ like they did at Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca,” I felt like that.”
Trump’s return will also have a major impact on how DC itself operates. The area has always lacked state autonomy. Although the Home Rule Act of 1973 granted it limited autonomy, Congress still scrutinizes essentially all D.C. laws and can overturn them entirely.
During his first term, President Trump threatened to federalize the Washington, D.C., police force, deployed the National Guard against protesters, and expressed a desire to control city functions such as road repairs. During his campaign, he expressed disdain for the city, raising concerns that the situation could escalate during his second term.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to “take over” the city and usurp local government powers. Last August, during a brief visit to plead not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, Trump tweeted on social media that he called the nation’s capital “a filthy, crime-ridden disgrace to our country.” “Yes,” he sneered. He has long denounced it as a “swamp.”
George Derek Musgrove, co-author of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital, suggests that there are two Washingtons in President Trump’s imagination: states. “One is where there are just lobbyists, lawyers, Hill officials and federal regulators.” Live. He considers those people parasitic. If we could get rid of them, we could have a more functioning democracy.
“Contradictoryly, he also looks at neighborhoods where real people actually live, and those people are poor, black, and highly criminal. Both have national political functions. They portray the Democratic Party as part of the deep state, siding with criminals over victimized law-abiding citizens. It’s a way to express that.”
President Trump has officially appointed Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to the Office of Government Efficiency, which aims to shrink the federal government and save money. The effort could jeopardize the jobs of thousands of employees in Washington and neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia. The president-elect has also vowed to dismantle the Ministry of Education.
“When we talk about the horrors of the incoming Trump administration, we’re talking about two things: One is the attack on democracy in the District,” said Musgrove, an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. , a real fear that his plan to reduce federal workforces will fall unfairly on us and cause economic pain to our districts.”
Congressional Republicans have increasingly aggressively used their power to nullify D.C. laws, restrict the budget, and target liberal policies on criminal justice, marijuana legalization, and abortion. Georgia Representative Andrew Clyde has proposed repealing the Home Rule Act entirely, and Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles has spoken publicly about eliminating the D.C. mayoral position.
The current mayor, Muriel Bowser, has been a thorn in Trump’s side since the beginning. But she and other local officials are exploring ways to work with the Trump administration on issues such as returning federal employees to office. Unlike Democratic governors, who are already adjusting how to stand up to President Trump on issues such as immigration, mayors have limited authority.
“We have a Democratic mayor, but we’re not a state, so the federal government controls our local politics,” said Megan Hatcher-Mayes, senior adviser at United for Democracy, a coalition of more than 140 organizations. “They can interfere with people’s lives and communities,” he said. Make decisions in a way that states cannot. Regardless of whether President Trump is actually here, we’re going to be in a difficult situation with many of his policymakers and his administration. ”
Hatcher-Mayes also warned that D.C. could become a laboratory for Project 2025, a radical policy blueprint developed by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. “Almost everything that is included in Project 2025 that may not pass Congress and become national may become a reality and apply only to D.C.,” she said.
Republicans’ sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress also dealt a major blow to the long-running D.C. statehood movement. Supporters say this is the only way to guarantee full democratic rights to D.C. residents who pay federal taxes but lack voting representation. But Republicans fiercely oppose the idea of adding two senators who are likely to be Democrats.
D.C.’s “shadow” senator Paul Straus, who doesn’t have a vote on the Senate floor, admitted: Most of what I’m going to do over the next two years is defend attacks on D.C.’s autonomy, which doesn’t have a majority in both chambers. The bill has little chance of moving forward. We are going to try to preserve what little self-determination we have. ”
Washington, D.C.’s storied culture includes the Washington Post, a newspaper founded in 1877 and famous for its investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. President Trump’s first term was embroiled in a classic newspaper war with the New York Times over an endless series of revelations about his administration.
But since then, the Post has suffered severe financial losses and layoffs, and publisher Will Lewis has stopped reporting on questions about whether he was involved in a criminal cover-up at Rupert Co. more than a decade ago. There are also reports that he tried to put pressure on staff. Murdoch’s British tabloid. The paper, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, refused to endorse presidential candidates and more than 250,000 readers reportedly canceled their subscriptions.
Hatcher-Mayes commented: “This is not an indictment of any of the reporters who work at the Post. I know they are independent and great, but when the owner of a newspaper is twice impeached, indicted, and indicted, I’m interested in fighting, but reporting on the various misdeeds of this government is going to be a tough climb.I’m not interested in the products of democracy.”
During his first term, President Trump spent many weekends at clubs in Florida and New Jersey, but when he was in Washington, he was often driven to a golf club in Sterling, Virginia, where he often played a round. The many reporters who accompanied him killed time at Lucia’s, a nearby Italian restaurant.
Owner David Hackett is preparing to return after a four-year hiatus and does not want to reveal his political allegiance. “Saturday and Sunday were definitely a nice boost,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the journalists coming back. That might be the only plus to this whole deal for me.”
