Trump Says He Will Declare National Emergency If Washington Stops Cooperating With ICE

The president said that ‘crime would come roaring back’ if the local police department stops cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Federal agents detain a man at a metro station in Washington on Sept. 3, 2025. Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Sept. 15 threatened to declare a national emergency in the District of Columbia after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said local police would no longer cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital and ordered a 30-day federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Aug. 11, deploying federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to combat crime in the city.

With the emergency now ended, Trump said Bowser has notified the federal government that the MPD will end its cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), something that Trump strongly opposes.

“The Federal Government, under my auspices as President of the United States of America, has stepped into the complete criminal mess that was Washington, D.C., our Nation’s Capital,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Because of this, D.C. has gone from one of the most dangerous and murder ridden cities in the U.S.A., and even around the world, to one of the safest — in just a few weeks.”

Trump warned that “crime would come roaring back” if the MPD stops cooperating with ICE, and he signaled his preparedness to federalize the police department again if he deems it necessary.

“To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN,“ Trump said. ”I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the mayor’s office for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Bowser told reporters on Sept. 10 that the MPD’s public safety mission remains unchanged but that the department will no longer assist federal immigration enforcement following the expiration of the emergency order.

“The presidential declaration compels the mayor to provide MPD services as requested by the president during the emergency for federal purposes. Immigration enforcement is such a service,” she said. “Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does. And with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future.”

Earlier in September, Bowser signed an executive order establishing the Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center, or SBEOC, tasked with overseeing the district’s response to the federal task force.

Members of the National Guard chat with young visitors to Union Station in Washington on Sept. 8, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Her office said the SBEOC would continue coordinating law enforcement efforts with federal agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, amid post-emergency planning, but not with ICE.

More than 2,000 arrests have been made across the District of Columbia since the federal takeover began, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. The National Guard extended its troop encampment in the nation’s capital through Nov. 30 to keep crime under control.

Bowser said on Aug. 27 that crime has decreased since Trump deployed Guard troops and took federal control of the MPD.

The mayor told reporters during an update on the enforcement surge that she and her officials “greatly appreciate” the added presence of law enforcement, noting that in just 20 days, the number of carjackings had fallen by 87 percent from the same period in 2024.

Victoria Friedman contributed to this report.