Marine One, carrying U.S. President Donald Trump, flies by the Washington Monument en route to the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2025.
Credit - Kevin Carter—Getty Images The alleged assault of a Trump Administration staffer known as "Big Balls" has prompted the President to threaten a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., to address what he labeled the district's "totally out of control" crime problem. Donald Trumppostedon his Truth Social platform on Tuesday a photo of a bloodied, shirtless Edward Coristine, one ofthe young engineershired by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year, claiming that he was "beaten mercilessly by local thugs." The large-testicles-nicknamed 19-year-old, whoreportedlyused to provide "tech support to a cybercrime ring," became a special employee of the Social Security Administration in May. Marko Elez, a fellow former DOGE staffer whoresignedfrom the government amid controversy over racist social media posts before being quicklyrehired, said he took the photo of Coristine. My friend Big Balls (@as400495) is a hero. I took this photo after Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by 8 thugs near Dupont Circle. Violence like this in the heart of DC is completely unacceptable.https://t.co/ELShlkXYaS — Marko Elez (@marko_elez)August 5, 2025 According to a police report obtained by TIME, Coristine was allegedly assaulted by a "group of approximately 10 juveniles" early Sunday morning. According to the report, Coristine was with his "significant other" Emily Bryant near their car when he "saw the suspects approach and make a comment about taking the vehicle." Coristine reportedly "pushed" Bryant into the car before being beaten by the suspects. When officers patrolling the area approached, the report says, the suspects fled by foot, and two were caught and positively identified by the victims. The Metropolitan Police DepartmentannouncedTuesday that the two apprehended suspects were a 15-year-old male and a 15-year-old female, both of Hyattsville, Md. They were arrested and charged with unarmed carjacking. In Trump's post about the incident, he complained that minors ought to be prosecuted and "locked up" as adults. "Local 'youths' and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released. They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them," he said, "but it's going to happen now!" Trump used the incident to renew his calls for the federalization of D.C., warning: "If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City." Musk, the President's one-time ally turnedopponent, alsopostedabout the incident, agreeing with Trump's assessment: "It is time to federalize DC." Republican leaders havelong usedincidents of violence in D.C. to paint an example of Democratic strongholds suffering from crime. (D.C.'s population is overwhelmingly Democratic and it has supported the Democratic ticket in every presidential election since 1964, after the 23rd Amendment allowed D.C. to participate in presidential elections.) In 2023, D.C. recorded 274 homicides, themost since 1997. Carjackings alsodoubled that year. But latestD.C. police statisticsshow that crime has been on the decline. Year-to-date violent crime, as of Aug. 5, is down 26% compared to the year before, and the 2024 figure dropped 35% from 2023. In a Cabinet meeting at the White House in July, Trumpsaid: "We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to. We could run D.C. I mean, we're ... looking at D.C." Any attempt to federalize the national capital, however, would require the suspension or repeal of theDistrict of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. Washington, D.C., was established through a political compromise as a federal district in 1790. It used to be governed directly by Congress and federal appointees, but in 1973, Congress passed the Home Rule Act after the district's residents pushed for control of their own affairs. The Act established an elected local government including a mayor and a 13-member council that would oversee the district's affairs. But according to the act, Congress still "reserves the right, at any time, to exercise its constitutional authority as legislature for the District." Some Republicanlawmakershave pushed to repeal the Home Rule Act, decrying Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser's supposed incompetence. In February, Trump threw himself behind those efforts,sayingwhile aboard Air Force One, "I think we should take over Washington, D.C.—make it safe. People are getting killed, people are being hurt." Trump could test the strength of the Republican Party's slim House and Senate majorities by trying to repeal or suspend the Home Rule Act. But for now, the President and his allies have resorted to other methods to exert some semblance of control over D.C. In March, he issued anExecutive Orderestablishing the "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force," an interagency panel that would coordinate with local officials to boost law enforcement and further beautify the district. The same month, Congress alsodocked the district's budget by $1.1 billion. "For 50 years, D.C. home rule could count on stout defense from the White House and majority support in Congress,"wroteformerWashington Postopinion contributor Colbert I. King in February. "Even in the worst-case scenario of a D.C. home rule repeal bill passing the House, a Senate filibuster would surely have prevented its final passage." "But political dynamics have changed," King wrote. "The guardrails are gone." Contact usatletters@time.com.
