Trump calls D.C. statehood 'ridiculous'

President Trump strongly pushed back on the idea of statehood for the District as Democrats push again for autonomy.

“Statehood is ridiculous. We want to straighten the place out,” Mr. Trump said, following an event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the District. “It’s ridiculous. It’s unacceptable.”

He added, “Democrats want it because Democrats have about 95% in this little area. They want to pick up two senators, but that’s not going to happen.”

Mr. Trump announced Monday that he was deploying the National Guard to the District and taking over the city’s police department to help reduce crime. During the White House announcement, he depicted the District as a dystopian, crime-ridden city, despite police data showing that the crime rate fell 30% after a spike in 2023 —a drop that the administration disputes.

Democrats and city officials seeking to rebuke Mr. Trump have rallied around the idea of statehood for the District.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate to Congress and longtime advocate for statehood, reupped her call for autonomy after Mr. Trump’s announcement.

“Federal interference is the problem, not the solution,” she said. “The only permanent remedy that will protect D.C.’s ability to govern itself is enactment of my D.C. statehood bill into law.”

Ms. Norton criticized Mr. Trump’s suggestion that Congress repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act, a move that would abolish the D.C. Council and the mayor’s office and leave governing the District to Congress.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser agreed with Ms. Norton on Tuesday on “The Breakfast Club” podcast.

“It’s times like this when America needs to know why your nation’s capital — a place where 700,000 taxpaying Americans live — should be the 51st state,” Ms. Bowser said, referring to Mr. Trump’s moves on the District. 

In recent years, Congress has increasingly flexed its power in the District. In 2022, President Joseph R. Biden signed a law that overturned the D.C. Council’s overhaul of the criminal code that would reduce penalties for homicides and other violent crimes, including carjackings. 

Earlier this year, the latest spending agreement reduced the District’s funding by $1 billion, bringing its budget to 2024 levels as House Republicans tightened the funding. 

The House of Representatives has twice passed a D.C. statehood bill, once in 2020 and again in 2021. Democrats had control of the lower chamber both times, but the bills died in the Senate, where it was unable to overcome the 60-vote threshold. 

With the GOP majority in the Senate, any new statehood bill would likely be dead on arrival even if it manages to get through the narrow GOP majority in the House. It’s unlikely House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, would even let the bill come to the floor for a vote. 

The District is solid Democratic territory. Vice President Kamala Harris won 90% of the D.C. vote during last year’s election — her strongest showing in any jurisdiction.