D.C. protested Trump's first term. Now, Washingtonians worry he'll crush them in his second.
Forget statehood. District of Columbia officials are just hoping to protect what little self-government they already have in Trump's second term.
Donald Trump has attacked many American cities. But as president, he’ll have direct authority over only one — his once-and-future home of Washington, D.C., where city leaders are bracing for his wrath and hoping for the best.
Trump’s first term was treated like an unwelcome nuisance in the capital, where more than 9 out of 10 voters rejected Trump at the polls every time he ran for office and protested him and his officials almost constantly.
But ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, District of Columbia officials fear losing their tenuous grip on the limited self-governance they have painstakingly achieved over decades since Trump has repeatedly vowed to “take over” a city he describes as a “filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment to our nation.”
While not long ago Washington officials hoped for full statehood, now they simply want to preserve their ability to elect their own leaders.
“A second Trump presidency presents risks for D.C., which lacks the protections of statehood and full home rule,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s longtime representative in Congress who has limited voting power, told NBC News. “I will continue to defend D.C. home rule from any attacks that may come our way.”
Rating: 5