President Trump demanded on Wednesday that Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser clear out the “unsightly” homeless encampments throughout the nation’s capital, including near the Executive Residence, or his administration would be “forced to do it for her.”
“We have notified the Mayor of Washington, D.C., that she must clean up all of the unsightly homeless encampments in the City, specifically including the ones outside of the State Department, and near the White House,” Trump wrote on the website Truth Social.
“If she is incapable of doing so, we will have to do it for her! Washington, D.C. must become clean and safe!”
“We want to be proud of our Great Capital again,” he added.
“Thank you, Mayor Bowser, for your efforts on behalf of the people of our country. Hopefully, you will succeed!”
The stern message from Trump comes as the president has decided not to issue an executive order that would have increased federal authority over Washington and had been debated for weeks, according to the Washington Post, citing an anonymous senior Trump administration official.
An email to the White House regarding the report was not immediately returned.
According to data obtained by Axios, the Democratic-controlled city worked to reduce the number of people on the streets, clearing an average of eight encampments per month from July to at least September of last year.
Bowser, a Democrat, stated last month that encampments are “technically not permitted.”
“Certainly we are a city that has shelter for people who are on the streets, and we want them inside, absolutely,” Bowser said, according to WTOP.
“We try to work with our residents to get them to a place where they want to come inside, and that’s always been our strategy.”
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to Trump’s directive Wednesday evening.
During Joe Biden’s presidency, National Park Service workers swept through a tent city in McPherson Square, three blocks from the White House.
Approximately 50 tents were demolished, according to an Associated Press report at the time.
