By Lauren Chadwick, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump said Monday he will call a national emergency once again in Washington, DC, if local police do not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

The president said in a Truth Social post overnight that his initial order had reduced crime in the district but that if local police do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, crime would rise again.

His comments come after the national emergency and federal takeover he declared in August expired last week. Trump has said the move, which included sending in National Guard troops, is necessary to fight crime and has threatened to target other mostly Democratic-run cities. But critics have called it a “dangerous power grab.”

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order on September 2 requiring the city to cooperate with federal law enforcement indefinitely, clarifying however, that DC did not need a “federal emergency.”

But her order did not mention ICE, with Bowser saying last week she did not expect the local Metropolitan Police Department to participate in immigration enforcement. Instead, she said she expected the department to return to its “status quo.”

“Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does, and with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future,” she added.

“Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has presided over this violent criminal takeover of our Capital for years, has informed the Federal Government that the Metropolitan Police Department will no longer cooperate with ICE in removing and relocating dangerous illegal aliens,” Trump wrote Monday.

“If I allowed this to happen, CRIME would come roaring back. To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!”

While crime has decreased in Washington under the federal emergency, it’s not true that there’s now “no crime,” as Trump has often repeated.

Trump’s latest post marks a change in tone from his previous comments about Bowser, whom he has praised in recent weeks for her cooperation with federal authorities. White House officials even told CNN that Trump did not mind letting the 30-day takeover end — mainly because he felt the city has taken steps to cooperate.

Washington’s Home Rule Act — which grants Congress oversight and authority over the capital city while allowing residents limited self-governance — allows the president to take control of DC’s police for 30 days during an emergency, but any extension would have required congressional action.

Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to send National Guard troops to other cities in recent weeks as part of a crack down on crime, including Chicago, Boston and most-recently Memphis, Tennessee, where officials are bracing for a potential operation this week.

The president ended up shelving his plans to target Chicago after advisers warned him that sending in troops without the Illinois governor’s support could create legal headaches, sources familiar with the matter told CNN last week.

In Washington, DC, the federal operation is highly unpopular, with roughly 8 in 10 residents opposing it, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.

As part of the operation, there has been a surge in immigration arrests, with immigrant workers saying people feel scared in the city.

In late August, when Bowser was asked whether Trump’s crime emergency was a pretext to enforce the administration’s immigration efforts, the mayor said that an order from Attorney General Pam Bondi “almost exclusively focused on immigration enforcement and homeless encampment enforcement.”

“So I’ll let you draw your own conclusion,” Bowser said.

Bowser’s office declined to comment on Trump’s post.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Gabe Cohen contributed to this report.