MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
At a press conference today, President Trump said he is placing the Washington, D.C., police department under federal authority. He also plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard members to the U.S. Capitol. He says crime in this city is out of control, but local leaders object. They say Trump is exaggerating the city's challenges. And all this during a week when the president is traveling to Alaska to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez was at that very newsy press conference today with the president. He's here now. Hey, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Start with the move in D.C. What do we know?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, Trump says he's formally declaring a public safety emergency for Washington, D.C. Now, data from D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department shows that crime rates are actually improving at all levels in the district. Even earlier this year, the Justice Department released data showing that crime in D.C. has hit a 30-year low in 2024. But Trump - he cited statistics that he claimed showed otherwise.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen anymore. We're not going to take it.
ORDOÑEZ: Now, he's using this as justification to take over the police department and deploy the National Guard to the city. It's a very unusual move but one he can actually do under this unique law that governs Washington, D.C. And he said that other cities should take notice. He mentioned Chicago and New York, but I will point out that he does not have the same type of authority as he does here in Washington, D.C.
KELLY: Franco, it's such a remarkable escalation of rhetoric, of boots on the ground here, and it comes when it seemed that relations between the president and city leaders had improved. What has been the response today from D.C.?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, it is an escalation. I will say that this is something that he talked about doing on the campaign trail, using federal law enforcement to take over big cities. But you are right. I mean, Mayor Muriel Bowser has looked to work with the president, even joining him a few times in the Oval Office. But she is pushing back now, calling this action unsettling. And she and local officials are saying that the president is wrong and that statistics show that crime is down.
KELLY: OK, let me hop over to the other big topic at this press conference today, which was Russia and this big summit that we are told is happening on Friday - so in four days. Did President Trump share anything of what he expects or hopes to get from this meeting with President Putin?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, he actually kind of downplayed expectations, saying it was an opportunity to feel out Putin and whether he was serious about ending the war. Trump boasted, though, that he expects to know whether he can reach a deal with Putin within two minutes of sitting down with him.
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TRUMP: I think one of two things is going to happen. It's going to be a good meeting, and we'll go a step further. We'll get it done. I'd like to see a ceasefire very, very quickly - very quick. I'd like to see it immediately, but I'd like to see it very quickly.
ORDOÑEZ: He said the other possibility is that he doesn't see an avenue for the war to be settled, and he leaves, and the fighting continues. The other challenge, though, Mary Louise, is that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won't be there.
KELLY: Yeah, and that is a challenge. How do you end a war that is unfolding in a country and not have that country at the table where you're trying to talk about peace and ceasefires.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, it's really not clear, but Trump says he wants to first meet with Putin to see whether a deal is possible and then hopes it leads to a future meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy. Now, he's going to talk with Zelenskyy and European leaders before sitting down with Putin. But the challenge is that Trump is talking about swapping territory, and Zelenskyy has made it very clear that that's not going to happen. It's actually in the constitution that Zelenskyy can give up - can't give up land.
KELLY: Right.
ORDOÑEZ: But Trump thinks he can work it out anyway.
KELLY: White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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