Donald Trump’s attempt to seize control of Washington DC has been condemned as a move of staggering hypocrisy, with critics pointing to his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol and his subsequent pardoning of 1,500 convicted rioters. The latest power grab follows reports that a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was assaulted in the city, allegedly prompting the takeover.
According to reliable sources, including the Biden Department of Justice, violent crime in Washington DC is at a 30-year low, contradicting claims used to justify the action. The 2021 insurrection resulted in five deaths and dozens of injuries among law enforcement officers, yet Trump pardoned those involved on his first day in office in 2025, some of whom have since reoffended.
The hypocrisy extends beyond crime statistics. The attacked Doge employee was 19-year-old Edward Coristine, known as ‘Big Balls’. Meanwhile, a Lancet study this spring estimated that Doge’s dismantling of USAid could lead to more than 14 million deaths, a third of them children, by 2030 – a scale of violence far exceeding any local incidents.
Critics argue the focus on DC crime is a distraction from other issues, such as Trump’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The attempt to control the capital fits a pattern of rightwing authoritarianism that targets diverse cities, which are often Democratic strongholds and hotbeds of tolerance. Recent comments by pundit Charlie Kirk, who claimed he felt unsafe in New York City among people ‘who don’t belong’, exemplify the narrative used to justify harsh enforcement.
