President Trump was asked today during an event whether or not he has talked to Congress about extending his 30-day federalizing of the DC Police force. The question assumed the President had no alternative path forward without relying on the good intentions of Congress. That was the reporter’s first mistake. The second mistake was failing to recognize that she was talking to a man who has been forced to become very familiar with the legal aspects of Executive Authority. If you throw someone into a tough scenario enough times, they’ll eventually either sink — or learn to swim. Never one to give up, President Trump pretty much knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the true legal boundaries of the Office of the President. More than anything, President Trump emphasized in his answer that a crime bill was what really needed to happen in order to expand on the moves he’s made over the last few days cleaning up the nation’s Capital city. But he did answer the reporter’s direct question about whether Congress would be extending his 30-day takeover of the DC Police. In essence, here’s my attempt to sum up his two-part answer: “…we can do it without Congress.” “We’re going to need a crime bill.” While the President’s allusion to a needed crime bill is probably the bigger story here, the assertion that he can somehow get around the 30-day limit on federalizing the DC Police force is definitely the headline grabber. That’s the thing that will make liberal heads explode, and cause conservatives to laugh knowing that the exploding-head liberals don’t have a clue how much authority the President actually has. Here’s the exchange in question as shared by ABC News on X during their coverage of the event: “I don’t want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will.” President Trump said that his administration will be asking for “long-term extensions” on federal control of the Washington, D.C., police department from Congress. https://t.co/HPKh0qG8lj pic.twitter.com/GCMeGUQZRi — ABC News (@ABC) August 13, 2025 Here’s a full screen version of that exchange from YouTube for convenience. This clip also has much better audio, and you can hear the reporter’s question much better: If you watched that full video, notice that the President harkened back to how quickly he closed the border when everyone said it would take years — and going to Congress — to pull that off. It didn’t.  And he did.  And that additional comment shows just how quickly President Trump is planning to spin heads with his NATIONWIDE clean-up effort. First DC, then the larger cities with similar problems, just as he’s said. While the President mentioned his expectation that Republicans in Congress would likely support his anti-crime agenda and give him what he’s asking for… He also didn’t mince words when it came to the possibility of using the National Emergencies Act to simply go over Congress’ head. The rush to capture the public’s view on what is happening in Washington DC has occupied an increasing amount of the news bandwidth since the President announced he would field the DC National Guard and federalize the DC Police force. Much of the media has fixated on the opposing views that “everything was okay and getting better, bruh” vs. the daily reports of horrendous crimes on the streets of our nation’s Capital. (Obviously, I’ve made up my mind who is ‘full of it’ on this one.) But the emphasis from the left-leaning media has been so overreaching, calling President Trump dictatorial and tyrannical for trying to FIX A REAL PROBLEM… Almost no one is reporting the full story about what he’s spearheading in the Capital! That new flag pole in front of the White House… That beautiful new renovation in the WH Rose Garden… The new WH ballroom that he is financing — though you wouldn’t know he is from the mainstream reporting… Those are all in the same vein as what he has outlined for DC. Check out this other clip explaining what else he has in mind for the Capital, since (as he says) the Democrats are “too afraid to do anything”: Like during his first 100 days, President Trump seems far too fixated moving the needle on things that matter most to let the unending arguments over competing OPTICS propped up by the media slow him down. “Optics” have always been the key ingredient of the Left’s political game, anyway. They matter — but not as much as POLICY and ACTION.  (That’s why President Trump is President again!) President Trump answered the question, and likely went further with his answer than the reporter expected, while fielding questions after a Kennedy Center event in DC earlier today. And yes, he DID ultimately answer the reporter’s question about extensions to the federalization in the affirmative — sort of. But he didn’t seem to be talking only about his DC actions, as reported by Fox News: President Donald Trump said he may declare a national emergency to maintain control of Washington, D.C.’s police force if Congress doesn’t work with him to extend the current federalization plan. Trump made the statement during a press conference at the Kennedy Center in Washington, arguing he can maintain control over the Metropolitan Police Department indefinitely if he declares a national emergency. Under the current structure, the federal government took control over the MPD for a 30-day period on Monday. “Your federalization of the police has a 30-day limit unless Congress acts to extend it. Are you talking to Congress about extending it, or do you believe 30 days is sufficient?” asked Daily Signal White House reporter Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell. “Well, if it’s a national emergency, we can do it without Congress. But we expect to be before Congress very quickly. And again, we think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously. So we’re going to need a crime bill. That we’re going to be putting in, and it’s going to pertain initially to DC. We’re going to use it as a very positive example.” “You can’t have 30 days,” he said. “We’re going to do this very quickly, but we’re going to want extensions. I don’t want to call a national emergency, but if I have to I will.” Trump announced his D.C. crime and homelessness crackdown last week, calling in the National Guard and federal law enforcement in addition to federalizing the MPD. (Emphasis Added.) I want to point out that he’s not backing away from taking his anti-crime agenda nationwide just because the Democrats are throwing up contrived roadblocks. Check out this article which quotes the President’s answer in context so that you can tell he’s not just looking to extend things out beyond 30 days in DC. He actually says that he’s going to be “asking for an extension on that” — presumably meaning the crime bill that will ultimately spread his anti-crime agenda from DC to “elsewhere”, as reported by  The Hill: President Trump on Wednesday said he’ll seek “long-term extensions” from Congress to extend his federal takeover of the Washington police amid his crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital, declining to rule out the possibility of a national emergency. Trump on Monday put the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and activated National Guard troops, painting the district as being ravaged by violent crime. To do so, he invoked an emergency provision of the Home Rule Act, which lets the president take temporary control of the District’s police in emergency conditions. Congress must pass a joint resolution to extend it beyond 30 days. Speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, Trump said he’s aiming to go before Congress with a crime bill that will “pertain initially to D.C.” but serve as a “very positive example” for elsewhere. “And we’re going to be asking for an extension on that, long-term extensions, because you can’t have 30 days. Thirty days is, that’s, by the time you do it — we’re going to have this in good shape. … We’re going to do this very quickly, but we’re going to want extensions,” Trump said. “I don’t want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will. But I think the Republicans in Congress will approve this pretty much unanimously.” (Emphasis Added.) While there are those who are pushing back against the possibility of the President invoking the National Emergencies Act in order to expand his anti-crime Agenda across crime-infested cities… I’m all for it! Congress attempted (passed a law!) once upon a time that would have given them a simple majority veto power over Presidential actions taken by means of the National Emergency Act. Thankfully, SCOTUS struck down that legislation and ruled that Congressional “veto” power over Presidential Powers was unconstitutional!  (Something that I’m fairly certain President Trump knows full well, and Congress might have to learn the hard way… FAFO.) Look.  When the Chief of Police of Washington DC doesn’t know what “chain of command” means… we have a problem: Why is everyone giving this woman a hard time for not knowing what “chain of command” means. It’s not like she’s DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith. Oh man, wait… she is DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith pic.twitter.com/hNaIRxo707 — Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) August 12, 2025 You can check out our previous reporting on THAT glimpse behind the DEI curtain here: DEI HIRE? D.C. Police Chief Doesn’t Seem to Know What “Chain of Command” Means And... that's part of the problem. We have had such an enormous influx of BAD AGENDAS for 4 years straight (and some leftover from Obama's 8 years!) that the disqualified DEI HIRES in areas of law enforcement have created TERRIBLE scenarios across the nation. Not just in DC. This is a systemic problem created over years of pushing DEI prerogatives in police districts across the nation. And it is going to take a SYSTEMIC push across the nation... to rectify the crime problems that have been allowed to exist because DEI prerogatives have become MORE IMPORTANT THAN SKILL OR MERIT. While I understand President Trump isn't eager to invoke the National Emergencies Act and SIDELINE Congress on this issue... He's not going to be President forever. Even that much-lauded potential "third term"... isn't FOREVER. We need real change, systemically, across the board.  And we need to make headway every single day of his Administration to "Make America Great Again" to the point that it's HARD to make it LESS great, again. I'm glad President Trump isn't the sort of guy who is chomping at the bit to exercise his authority as President just for the sake of flaunting it. But I'm also glad he's the sort of President who will flip that switch, if need be.