”Trump's DC-utopia”. Under the heading on the news site Axios the rhetorical question is posed whether the country's president is transforming his hometown into a kind of political amusement park.
It was a crime-ridden rat hole, Trump said recently about the city according to The Washington Post – at the same time as he boasted about having made it safer and told about his plans to beautify the place.
There are many rats here. We will get rid of them too. We have made great progress.
Out of control?
In recent weeks, real estate magnate Trump has federalized the city's police force and sent in the National Guard to stop the "bloodshed" – despite official statistics showing that serious crime is decreasing. In recent days, he let his transport department take over the giant Union Station and proposed the death penalty for murder in DC, despite the death penalty being abolished there in 1981.
The President has also clashed with the state-funded Smithsonian, with 17 capital city museums. Trump is clear that he believes too much focus is on "woke" (awareness of justice and inclusion, which in some circles is seen as excessive political correctness) and has urged the museums to become more patriotic and success-oriented.
"Smithsonian is out of control, where everything that is taken up is how terrible our country is, how bad slavery was," he recently wrote on social media.
In June, the White House pressured the Smithsonian's historical museum to remove a sign that mentioned Trump's two impeachment trials.
A facelift
Similar changes are underway at the national Kennedy Center, where Trump himself has seated himself as chairman.
Add to that he will soon ask Congress for the equivalent of 20 billion kronor for a facelift for the capital, according to the media. It's about things like better street lighting, smoother roads, and greener grass – it can look like Trump National Golf Club, Trump has said in jest.
The work of beautifying the city began in part this summer, when the streets were prepared for the military parade that was held on the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's birthday in June.
Great focus is on the national day on July 4 next year, when the entire USA turns 250 years old. But it's clear that Trump, who for decades has worked with properties with a focus on hotels and golf courses, wants to make a lasting impression.
Maybe that's why he recently converted one of the White House's most famous spots, the rose garden, into a stone-paved outdoor space. And the President has taken the initiative and partially financed the construction of a new ballroom in the White House's east wing. It will have room for 650 seated guests and construction will begin in September. Judging by the sketches, it goes in Trump's favorite color gold.
Tina Magnergård Bjers/TT
Facts: Crime in Washington DC
TT
Number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants at mid-year:
2021: 14
2023: 17.4
2025: 10.5
Number of cases of serious assault per 100,000 inhabitants at mid-year:
2021: 112.5
2023: 103.2
2025: 58.2
Number of armed attacks (with firearms) per 100,000 inhabitants at mid-year:
2021: 62
2023: 69.5
2025: 34.2
Source: The politically independent think tank Council on Criminal Justice
