Thousands protest for a 'Free DC' on the fourth week of federal control in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters marched across Washington, D.C., on Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations against President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing in the nation’s capital.

Behind a bright red banner reading “END THE D.C. OCCUPATION” in English and Spanish, protesters marched over two miles from Meridian Hill Park to Freedom Plaza near the White House to rail against the fourth week of National Guard troops and federal agents patrolling D.C.’s streets.

The “We Are All D.C.” protest — put together by local advocates of Home Rule and the American Civil Liberties Union — was perhaps the most organized demonstration yet against Trump's federal intervention in Washington. The president justified the action last month as a way to address crime and homelessness in the city, even though city officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.

Trump targeted D.C. after deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles earlier this summer as the administration ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts and attempted to quell protests. The White House then turned to Washington, which presented a unique opportunity for Trump to push his tough-on-crime agenda because of its subservient status to the federal government.

The presence of armed military officers in the streets has put Washington on edge and spurred weeks of demonstrations, particularly in D.C. neighborhoods. Trump’s emergency declaration taking charge of D.C. police is set to expire on Wednesday.

Mark Fitzpatrick, a former U.S. diplomat who has been a D.C. resident for around a decade, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he's worried about the “authoritarian nature” in which the administration is treating D.C.

“Federal agents, national guards patrolling our streets, that’s really an affront to the democracy of our city," he said, adding that it’s worse for D.C. residents due to their lack of federal representation. "We don’t have our own senators or members of the House of Representatives, so we’re at the mercy of a dictator like this, a wanna-be dictator.”

Among the protesters Saturday were also former D.C. residents like Tammy Price, who called the Trump administration's takeover “evil" and “not for the people.”

Jun Lee, a printmaker artist living in Washington, showed up with a “Free DC” sign that she made on a woodcut block. She said she came to the protest because she was “saddened and heartbroken” about the impact of the federal intervention on her city.

“This is my home, and I never, ever thought all the stuff that I watched in a history documentary that I’m actually living in person, and this is why this is important for everyone, this is our home, we need to fight, we need to resist,” she said.

Also on Saturday, Trump repeated threats to add Chicago to the list of other Democratic-led cities he wants to target for expanded federal enforcement. His administration is set to step up immigration enforcement in Chicago, similar to what took place in Los Angeles, and deploy National Guard troops. Like the District of Columbia, Chicago's recent crime data does not reflect the war zones Trump has repeatedly compared it to.

Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of the year, representing the steepest decline in over a decade, according to city data. Shootings are down 37%, and homicides have dropped by 32%, while total violent crime dropped by over 22%.

In response to Trump's threats, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, called the president a “wannabe dictator," who is “threatening to go to war with an American city.”

“This is not a joke," Pritzker wrote on X. "This is not normal.”

Amiri reported from New York.

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was at the White House on Thursday discussing her country's future with President Donald Trump even after he publicly dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. His administration has signaled its willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, remains in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela and sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was expecting a positive discussion during the lunchtime meeting and called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela.

The White House said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to seeing Venezuela hold elections “one day,” but wouldn’t say when that might happen.

Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate later Thursday. Trump has called her “a nice woman” while indicating they might not touch on major issues in their talks Thursday.

Her Washington swing began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

The White House says Venezuela has been fully cooperating with the Trump administration since Maduro’s ouster.

Rodríguez, the acting president, herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move thought to have been made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump wanted to win himself. She has since thanked Trump. Her offer to share the peace prize with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)