Washington, D.C
Local Washington officials brace for four years of playing defense against Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s first stint in the White House proved to be a chaotic ride for the District of Columbia.
Now with Trump set to return to power — backed by a Republican-controlled Congress and the momentum of a sweeping electoral win — local officials in the nation’s capital are trying to sound conciliatory while preparing for the worst.
“We have been discussing and planning for many months in the case that the District has to defend itself and its values,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. Her office had “communicated with (Trump’s) team and indicated we would like to speak,” she said on Nov. 12, but hadn’t heard back.
Bowser downplayed the myriad differences between the two sides and emphasized a search for common ground. But those commonalities may be hard to come by, given open mutual animosity that has defined Trump’s relationship with the district.
During Trump’s turbulent first four years in office, he and the local government publicly sparred multiple times — in tones ranging from playful to deeply personal. When Trump floated the idea of a massive July 4 military parade complete with tanks rolling through the streets, the D.C. Council publicly mocked him.
When mass protests broke out in the summer of 2020 over the death of George Floyd and wider police brutality and racial issues, Trump accused Bowser of losing control of her city. he eventually declared his own multi-agency lockdown that included low-flying helicopters buzzing protesters. Bowser responded by having “Black Lives Matter” painted on the street in giant letters one block from the White House.
What to know about Trump’s second term:
Follow all of our coverage as Donald Trump assembles his second administration.
During the last four years, with Trump as an aggrieved private citizen, his feelings toward Washington have remained intense. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly vowed to “take over” the city and usurp the authority of the local government. In August 2023, when he briefly came to town to plead not guilty on charges of trying to overturn his 2020 electoral loss to President Joe Biden, Trump blasted the capital city on social media, calling it a “filthy and crime ridden embarrassment to our nation.”
Now Bowser and the D.C. Council are bracing for what could be several years of playing defense against opponents who wield significant power over Washington’s affairs.
“We just have to do our best and hold on for another few years. We have to figure out how to make it work,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson. “Unlike millions of voters around the country, I actually believe the man when he speaks. He said what he’s going to do.”
Henderson, a former staffer for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., points out that Trump has already experienced what she called “the trifecta” — Republican control of the White House and both houses of Congress — during his first two years in office and the district managed to get through it. She also notes that Republican control of the House of Representatives will be up for grabs again in just two more years.
“I can’t predict what they’re going to try to do to us,” she said. “I can just prepare to respond.”
But responding to the intentions of an antagonistic White House and Congress is difficult, given the nature of the District’s limited autonomy. Under terms of the city’s Home Rule authority, Congress essentially vets all D.C. laws and can outright overturn them.
Even when Trump was out of the White House, activist Republicans on the House Oversight Committee repeatedly summoned Bowser and members of the D.C. Council — often to publicly grill them about local crime rates.
And by far the most extensive modern congressional encroachment on the District’s authority came with Democrats controlling both the Senate and the White House. In 2023, a sweeping rewrite of the D.C. criminal code was branded as soft on crime by House Republicans; in a major setback for the council, both Senate Democrats and President Biden agreed and the law was effectively canceled.
“We know that the district can always be a convenient foil to some of these folks,” said Councilmember Charles Allen. “Without statehood, without autonomy, our laws are always more at risk than any other Americans.”
Both councilmembers predict a wave of budget riders on the annual appropriations bill — designed to alter district laws in ways big and small. These riders have been a longtime source of resentment for local lawmakers, who charge Congress members with tinkering with the district in a manner they could never get away with at home.
“They want to do something to the district because they feel they can. They would never do that to their own state,” Allen said.
He highlights the infamous “Harris rider” named for Maryland Rep. Andy Harris. A staunch opponent of legalized marijuana, Harris has for years used a budget rider to prevent the local government from creating any sort of regulatory framework for taxing or controlling sales. Meanwhile, Maryland has since legalized recreational marijuana use.
“He can’t implement it in his home state, but he can do it to us,” Allen said.
Last year’s appropriations bill initially included riders that would have banned all traffic speed cameras in the nation’s capital and prevented the district government from banning right turns on red lights. Those proposals eventually faded during the negotiation process, but Allen feels that the coming Congress “won’t have Democrats in the same position to help negotiate away many of the most objectionable budget riders.”
Other congressional Republicans have sought to make more fundamental changes to the way Washington operates. Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia has proposed completely repealing the Home Rule Act, while Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has talked publicly of abolishing the office of D.C. mayor. Neither Ogles’ nor Clyde’s office responded to Associated Press requests for comment on their future intentions.
Despite the looming battles, Bowser’s search for common ground with Trump and congressional Republicans may not be completely hopeless. Bowser actually vetoed the criminal code rewrite but was overridden by the D.C. Council; her opposition was frequently cited by congressional Republicans as proof of how far the council had strayed from mainstream Democratic policy.
And Bowser, Trump and Republicans in Congress have all agreed for years on one particular issue: the need to end post-pandemic teleworking and bring all federal employees back to their offices five days a week. She said she looked forward to discussing that with Trump.
4 things to know about the weather:
- Abundant sunshine
- Temps slightly cooler than average
- No rain in sight — again
- Mid-week warmup
May is drawing to a dry, comfortable close, in stunning contrast to the very soggy Memorial Day weather we saw last weekend.
That 10-day stretch of rain put a definite dent in our drought, according to the weekly national drought monitor, but it seems that was the end of the improvement for a while: There’s almost no clouds in sight for the DMV for several days.
Enjoy the many hours of sunshine on Saturday. The high pressure coming in from the Hudson Bay brings a stiff north wind, but the day will also be sunny and comfortable, with highs in the mid 70s.
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
The wind will die down after dark, and Sunday morning will be bordering on chilly. Expect widespread mid/upper 40s in most of the D.C. area, with urban centers and bayside communities staying just above 50°. Sunday afternoon will be just a bit warmer, in the mid 70s, but with far less of a breeze.
Highs will be back around 80° for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with overnight lows in the comfy 50s. It’ll be a perfect start to meteorological summer (June/July/August).
QuickCast
TODAY:
Sunshine Abounds, Breezy
Wind: North 10-15mph, Gust to 25 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 75°
TONIGHT:
Clear Skies
Winds Diminish
Wind: Northwest 10-15 mph
Chance Of Rain: 0%
LOWS: 46° to 54°
SUNDAY:
Mostly Sunny Skies
Pleasant Conditions
Light Breeze
Wind: NW 5 – 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 76°
MONDAY:
Partly Cloudy
Seasonable
Light Breeze
Wind: West/Northwest 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 76° to 82°
Sunrise: 5:45 Sunset: 8:26
Average High: 80° Average Low: 63°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
WASHINGTON – A man is in critical condition after falling into the Anacostia River in Southwestern Washington, D.C., Friday night.
What we know:
D.C. Fire and EMS reported the rescue effort shortly after 10 p.m. at James Creek Marina in Buzzard Point.
Crews believe a man fell from the dock into the water.
By 10:30 p.m., crews were able to pull the man out of the water.
Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.
What we don’t know:
Officials did not identify the man who was rescued. No other information was immediately available.
The Source: Information in this story is from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.
Washington, D.C
DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination
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FIRST ON FOX — Washington, D.C.’s professional baseball franchise could come under Justice Department scrutiny after a viral video showed a team executive appearing to admit to his religious discrimination against a Christian player.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate alleged religious discrimination against players for the Washington Nationals, according to a letter sent Thursday to and first obtained by Fox News Digital.
The letter comes after Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe published a secretly recorded video of Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team does not include pitcher Trevor Williams in certain social media promotion.
He cited the player’s public criticism of another Major League Baseball franchise for hosting a drag group mocking Catholics.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging the Department of Justice to investigate alleged religious discrimination within the Washington Nationals organization and across Major League Baseball. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“According to the reporting by James O’Keefe, it appears the Washington Nationals are engaged in unlawful religious discrimination,” Boebert told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “I urge the DOJ to take immediate and decisive action.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said they received Boebert’s letter.
“The Department is reviewing the matter and will evaluate all appropriate next steps. As always, we remain committed to enforcing federal law and protecting civil rights,” they told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hudson, in the clandestine recording, pointed to Williams’ public objections to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence — a drag group that dresses as nuns — during the team’s 2023 “Pride Night.
The event also drew condemnation from multiple Catholic bishops, who described it as “blasphemous.”
Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals sits in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on May 28, 2025. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Williams said he found the group’s anti-Catholic demonstration featuring vulgar caricatures of the crucifixion and sacred rituals to be “deeply offensive,” in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year. The professional baseball player said he made the decision with his wife to speak out even though it would put “a target on our back.”
“Baseball stadiums should be a place where everyone feels welcomed, like 100%,” Williams said in the interview. “We should all feel welcomed there. But that was clearly against one certain religion. If you don’t draw the line in the sand, who’s gonna do it?”
According to Hudson, that public criticism of the drag group’s performance later affected Williams’ opportunities at the Nationals franchise.
“Because of that we don’t use him on social [media],” Hudson told an undercover journalist in the video. “When they’re like ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ and the players come up, we don’t ask him.”
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Boebert said she is concerned that Hudson’s admission could mean the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and other protected classes.
“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” the Colorado Republican said in the letter. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”
“Sister Unity” and “Sister Dominia” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were honored on Pride Night before the MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
Hudson, in the video, described himself as “far-left leaning” and nonreligious. Meanwhile, he called Williams “super Catholic.”
The Washington Nationals executive also boasted about a Communist Party poster in his office and mused about pushing redistribution of wealth and other leftist agendas during baseball games at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, D.C.
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“What a cool opportunity for us [Nationals] to also, be a little bit of like, the voice of reason,” Hudson said. “And a lot of people will tell you when I come to a baseball game, I don’t want to think about that s–t.”
“If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you gonna go,” he went on. “I don’t give a sh–t.”
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