US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) suggested that the federal government might take control of New York City and Washington, claiming the White House holds the authority to intervene in cities if needed.Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump was asked about New York City’s upcoming mayoral election. He said, “We’re not going to have — if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.”

Trump criticised Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, and also mentioned other candidates like Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa, though he did not endorse anyone.He also slammed New York’s ranked-choice voting system and called his relationship with current Mayor Eric Adams a “test.”“New York City will run properly,” he told ABC news. “We’re going to bring New York back,” he added.Turning his attention to Washington DC, he cited that the federal government could take over the city because of concerns about crime. “We could run DC. We’re looking at DC. We don’t want crime in DC. We want the city to run well,” he said.He added that his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was talking with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.Trump has long called for the federal government to take over Washington, complaining that local leaders weren’t effective and arguing the city has become riddled with crime.However, the preliminary data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows that violent crime is down by 25% from last year and overall crime is down by 8%.Trump said on Tuesday that if the federal government ran Washington, it would be managed well and crime would be much lower.“We would run it so good, it would be run so proper, we’d get the best person to run it,” Trump said. “And we know the crime would be down to a minimum, would be much less. And, you know, we’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you,” he added.Trump said he wants the capital city to be run perfectly and believes the federal government could manage it easily. He added that his team has a good relationship with the mayor and is currently testing whether their plan will work.Washington DC has some autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act. It grants residents the ability to manage their affairs by electing a mayor and city council members. However, Congress has the final say over the city’s laws and budget.