Trump's takeover of Washington law enforcement begins as National Guard troops arrive

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new picture of law enforcement in the nation’s capital began taking shape Tuesday as some of the 800 National Guard members deployed by the Trump administration began arriving. The city’s police and federal officials, projecting cooperation, took the first steps in an uneasy partnership to reduce crime in what President Donald Trump called — without substantiation — a lawless city.

The influx came the morning after the Republican president announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the District's police department, something the law allows him to do temporarily. He cited a crime emergency — but referred to the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably.

By evening, the administration was saying that National Guard members were expected to be on the streets starting Tuesday night, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Army said there were no specifics on the locations they will be patrolling, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason.

Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to work alongside the federal officials Trump has tasked with overseeing the city's law enforcement, while insisting the police chief remained in charge of the department and its officers.

“How we got here or what we think about the circumstances — right now we have more police, and we want to make sure we use them,” she told reporters.

The tone was a shift from the day before, when Bowser said Trump's plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and call in the National Guard was not a productive step and argued his perceived state of emergency simply doesn’t match the declining crime numbers. Still, the law gives the federal government more sway over the capital city than in U.S. states, and Bowser said her administration's ability to push back is limited.

Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media that the meeting was productive.

The law allows Trump to take over the D.C. police for up to 30 days, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested it could last longer as authorities later “reevaluate and reassess." Extending federal control past that time would require Congressional approval, something likely tough to achieve in the face of Democratic resistance.

About 850 officers and agents fanned out across Washington on Monday and arrested 23 people overnight, Leavitt said. The charges, she said, included homicide, drunk driving, gun and drug crimes and subway fare evasion. She didn't immediately provide further information on the arrests.

The U.S. Park Police has also removed 70 homeless encampments over the last five months, she said. People who were living in them can leave, go to a homeless shelter or go into drug addiction treatment, Leavitt said. Those who refuse could face fines or jail time.

While Trump invokes his plan by saying that “we're going to take our capital back,” Bowser and the MPD maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023. Carjackings, for example, dropped about 50% in 2024 and are down again this year. More than half of those arrested, however, are juveniles, and the extent of those punishments is a point of contention for the Trump administration.

Resident Jeraod Tyre, who's lived in Washington for 15 years, said he does see crime slowing down. He's wary of the National Guard troops, who don't have the same local knowledge as the city's regular police force. "I feel safe walking through the city each and every day. The police are doing a mighty fine job,” he said.

Bowser, a Democrat, spent much of Trump's first term in office openly sparring with the Republican president. She fended off his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition when he called in a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to confront anti-police brutality protesters in summer 2020. She later had the words “Black Lives Matter” painted in giant yellow letters on the street about a block from the White House.

In Trump's second term, backed by Republican control of both houses of Congress, Bowser has walked a public tightrope for months, emphasizing common ground with the Trump administration on issues such as the successful effort to bring the NFL's Washington Commanders back to the District of Columbia.

She watched with open concern for the city streets as Trump finally got his military parade this summer. Her decision to dismantle Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year served as a neat metaphor for just how much the power dynamics between the two executives had evolved.

Now that fraught relationship enters uncharted territory as Trump has followed through on months of what many D.C. officials had quietly hoped were empty threats. The new standoff has cast Bowser in a sympathetic light, even among her longtime critics. “It's a power play and we're an easy target,” said Clinique Chapman, CEO of the D.C. Justice Lab and a frequent Bowser critic.

Bowser contends that all the power resides with Trump and that local officials can do little other than comply and make the best of it. As long as Washington remains a federal enclave with limited autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, she said, it will remain vulnerable to such takeovers.

Trump is the first president to use the law's Section 740 to take over Washington’s police for up to 30 days during times of emergencies.

For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in D.C. reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement. The District of Columbia’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.

Trump's declaration of a state of emergency fits the general pattern of his second term in office. He has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs, enabling him to essentially rule via executive order. In many cases, he has moved forward while the courts sorted them out.

Bowser's claims about successfully driving down violent crime rates received backing earlier this year from an unlikely source. Ed Martin, Trump's original choice for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, issued a press release in April hailing a 25% drop in violent crime rates from the previous year.

Tom Power, resident of the hip Logan Circle neighborhood for over a decade, said he occasionally hears about shootings or car break-ins, but he's never been a victim himself. “I never felt threatened, I’ve never given much thought to it,” he said.

Washington native Sheina Taylor said the troops are putting her on edge. “It’s more fearful now because even though you’re a law abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don’t know, especially because I’m African-American," she said.

Trump's newly confirmed top federal prosecutor for Washington, onetime judge and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, argued that violent crime remains high and a significant issue for victims, despite recent decreases. “These were vibrant human beings cut down because of illegal guns,” she said.

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix, Ali Swenson in New York and video journalist River Zhang contributed reporting.

In this image provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James Mingus speaks with soldiers and airmen from the District of Columbia National Guard at the D.C. National Guard Armory in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Sgt. 1st Class Christy L. Sherman/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

In this image provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll poses with soldiers and airmen from the District of Columbia National Guard at the D.C. National Guard Armory in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Sgt. 1st Class Christy L. Sherman/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

In this image provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll shakes hands with Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew McDonough, commander of the 113th wing, left, during a visit with soldiers and airmen from the District of Columbia National Guard at the D.C. National Guard Armory in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Sgt. 1st Class Christy L. Sherman/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Troops load boxes of rifle ammunition at the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters as President Donald Trump implements his order to use federal law enforcement and the National Guard to expel homeless people and rid the nation's capital of violent crime, in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Troops depart the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters as President Donald Trump implements his order to use federal law enforcement and the National Guard to expel homeless people and rid the nation's capital of violent crime, in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Tents are set up on a sidewalk near George Washington University, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A member of the District of Columbia National Guard arrives at the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks as Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith listens during a news conference on President Donald Trump's plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

National Guard troops arrive at the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

National Guard troops arrive at the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

National Guard troops arrive at the District of Columbia National Guard Headquarters, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Federal law enforcement officers patrol The Wharf, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Protesters demonstrate against President Donald Trump's planned use of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington at a rally in Dupont Circle, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on President Donald Trump's plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Federal law enforcement officers patrol The Wharf, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An economist testified in Michael Jordan's federal federal antitrust trial against NASCAR that the racing series owes a combined $364.7 million in damages to the two teams suing it over a revenue-sharing dispute.

Edward Snyder, a professor of economics who worked in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice and has testified in more than 30 cases, including “Deflategate” involving the NFL's New England Patriots, testified on Monday. He gave three specific reasons NASCAR is a monopoly participating in anticompetitive business practices.

Using a complex formula applied to profits, a reduction in market revenue, and lost revenue to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports from 2021-24, Snyder came up with his amount of damages owed. Snyder applied a 45% of revenue sharing he alleged Formula 1 gives to its teams in his calculations; Snyder found that NASCAR's revenue-sharing model when its charter system began in 2016 gave only 25% to the teams.

The suit is about the 2025 charter agreement, which was presented to teams on a Friday in September 2024 with a same-day deadline to sign the 112-page document. The charter offer came after more than two years of bitter negotiations between NASCAR and its teams, who have called the agreement “a take-it-or-leave-it” ultimatum that they signed with “a gun to their head.”

A charter is similar to the franchise model in other sports, but in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams spots in the 40-car field, as well as specific revenue.

Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin for 23XI, along with Front Row Motorsports and owner Bob Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 to refuse the new charter agreements.

Snyder's evaluations found NASCAR was in fact violating antitrust laws because the privately owned racing series controls all bargaining because “teams don't have anywhere else to sell their services." Snyder said NASCAR controls “the tracks, the teams and the cars.”

Snyder repeatedly cited exclusivity agreements NASCAR entered into with racetracks after the charter system began. The agreements prevent tracks that host NASCAR from holding events with rival racing series. Prior to the long-term agreements, NASCAR operated on one-year contracts with its host racetracks.

The Florida-based France family founded NASCAR in 1948 and, along with Speedway Motorsports, owns almost all the tracks on the top Cup Series schedule. Snyder's belief is that NASCAR entered into exclusivity agreements with tracks to stave off any threats of a breakaway startup series. In doing so, it eliminated teams' ability to race stock cars anywhere else, forced them to accept revenue-sharing agreements that are below market value, and damaged their overall evaluations.

Snyder did his calculations for both teams based on each having two charters — each purchased a third charter in late 2024 — and found 23XI is owed $215.8 million while Front Row is owed $148.9 million. Based on his calculations, Snyder determined NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.

Snyder noted NASCAR had $2.2 billion in assets, an equity value of $5 billion and an investment-grade credit rating — which Snyder believed positions the France family to be able to pivot and adjust to any threats of a rival series the way the PGA did in response to the LIV Golf league. The PGA, Snyder testified, “got creative” in bringing in new revenue to pay to its golfers to prevent their defections.

Snyder also testified NASCAR had $250 million in annual earnings from 2021-24 and the France family took $400 million in distributions during that period.

NASCAR contends Snyder's estimations are wrong, that the 45% F1 model he used is not correct, and its own two experts “take serious issue” with Snyder's findings. Defense attorney Lawrence Buterman asked Snyder his opinion on NASCAR's upcoming expert witnesses and Snyder said they were two of the best economists in the world.

Snyder testified for almost the entirety of Monday's session — the sixth day of the trial — and will continue on Tuesday. The snail's pace of the trial has agitated U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who heard arguments 30 minutes early Monday morning because he was annoyed that objections had been submitted at 2:55 a.m. and then 6:50 a.m.

He needed an hour to get through the rulings, and testimony resumed 30 minutes behind schedule. When the day concluded, he asked the nine-person jury if they were willing to serve an hour longer each day the rest of the week in an effort to avoid a third full week of trial.

Bell wants plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Kessler to conclude his case by the end of Tuesday, but Kessler told him he still plans to call NASCAR chairman Jim France, NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps and Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, who was the subject of derogatory text messages amongst NASCAR leadership and has said he's considering legal action.

NASCAR has a list of 16 potential witnesses and Bell said he wanted the first one on the stand before Tuesday's session concludes.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins, left, and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin arrive in the Western District of North Carolina on Monday Dec 1, 2025 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer, File)

NASCAR vice chair Lesa France Kennedy enters federal court in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday Dec 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer)

NASCAR chairman Jim France enters federal court in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday Dec 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer)

Michael Jordan arrives in the Western District of North Carolina on Monday Dec 1, 2025 for the start of the antitrust trial between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer)