Trump returns to Washington with 'Drain the Swamp' intentions still alive

Donald Trump‘s stunning second coming continues, with confirmation coming Friday that no presidential candidate has declared so much profit in so many places since then Bill Clintonis legendary Democratic sweep in 1992. His campaign improved his standing not only in 49 states, but also in the city that has often drawn his ire: Washington DC.

Everything is relative. As expected, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris won an overwhelming majority of the vote in the District of Columbia, with 92 percent, but on Friday there was a big surprise that of the 6.7 percent who voted for the Republican candidate, Trump’s power base in Washington was in Hill East and not the conservative citadel of Navy Yard. Speculation about why this happened has begun. One theory is that alarming crime rates and stories of carjackings and gunshots in gentrifying downtown neighborhoods are pushing some residents to vote for Trump’s return.

During his long campaign, Trump occasionally cast an ominous glance toward his former – and future – hometown. In January, he lamented its decline at a campaign rally.

“We have capital that we all love. Right now it’s a rat and graffiti infested place where people are murdered. We are going to take over from the mayor. That doesn’t make me popular there, but I have to say it. We have to manage our capital in an incredible way. We need to remove the graffiti from those beautiful marble columns all over the city that have swastikas printed on them, where the names of people with hearts are written. People who are in love and write a heart.”

Whatever the case with the love notes on the city’s many statues, even the most outspoken Democratic residents would probably quietly agree that Washington has more rodents than it technically needs. There’s a brashness about DC rats, in keeping with the city’s attitude. Crime rates have also risen at an alarming rate in recent years, with the number of murders increasing from 203 to 274 between 2022 and 2023 and the number of reported robberies from 2,076 to 3,470.

But in keeping with the broader trend of this election year, city officials can rightly claim that they have turned around these problems, just as the Harris campaign tried to illustrate to voters that the country has turned a corner on the influx of migrants around the world . the border, inflation, the cost of living. Recent statistics show that violent crime in Washington DC has fallen to its lowest level in two decades. The number of armed car thefts has fallen by 55 percent compared to last year.

So the city’s rodents are probably among the happiest of any Washington community when it comes to Donald J. Trump’s second presidency.

On a Thursday morning of intense silence, the wooden shutters that many businesses had placed on their doors and windows in the city center were removed. Violence was expected in disputed elections. But as the Harris campaign hoped to have simply died a silent death in the balmy early hours of Wednesday morning, the thousands of supporters at her election night party in Howard haunted home in a terrible, shattered silence.

On Thursday, the only sign of the incoming administration was the widened space around the White House, where the inauguration will take place. Thursday’s phone call to congratulate Trump from President Biden and his invitation to the White House restored some decorum to the presidential election process.

But in 2024, Trump comes to Washington as a veteran White House operative with a popular vote mandate, control of the Senate and possibly the House of Representatives, and a sympathetic, heavily conservative Supreme Court. His famous threat and intention to ‘drain the swamp’ is more vivid than ever.

There are already concerns about the turbulence his return will mean for military and federal employees. A blueprint has been laid out for deep changes planned for the Pentagon, with lower spending and a retired field of top officers, as well as a reversal of recent efforts to make the military more inclusive of women and transgender soldiers. The president-elect has also pledged to remove up to 100,000 federal employees from the city’s administrative infrastructure. A day after his successful election, the American Federation of Government Employees, through its president, launched a campaign that sounded ominous for its members. The statement represents 800,000 state and DC federal employees and emphasizes that members “will continue to deliver for the American people.”

“But make no mistake: our union will not stand by and allow any political leader – regardless of their political beliefs – to trample on the Constitution and our laws. During President Trump’s first term, his administration attempted to undermine many of our negotiated union contracts, downsize and relocate federal agencies at great disruption and cost to taxpayers, and replace tens of thousands of nonpartisan officials with political appointees who blindly do his job would do. offer.

“Federal and DC government employees should be able to do their jobs without political interference, without violating their constitutional oaths, and without breaking the law – and as their elected representative, we will do everything we can to ensure that is possible.”

A Women’s Group march will take place in the city on Saturday, a prelude to what is planned as a large-scale protest to take place on January 18, just two days before Trump is sworn in. Right now the city is enjoying a prolonged burst of sensational autumn weather. But clouds of worry scan the horizon. Whatever the fate of the people, the much-maligned rodents of Washington DC may soon up and leave for a better life, grumbling that the city has gone to hell.