STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
When he was in the White House the first time, the president rarely said much about local matters here in Washington, D.C. Lately, he's been more vocal, and local leaders have been more careful, knowing the city's financial future could be on the line. Here's Alex Koma from our member station WAMU.
ALEX KOMA, BYLINE: In June 2020, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered that a street leading up to the White House be emblazoned with the words Black Lives Matter in bright yellow font. It was hard to escape the message to the mansion's occupant.
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MURIEL BOWSER: That message is to the American people that Black lives matter, Black humanity matters, and we, as a city, raise that up.
KOMA: Flash forward to last month, Bowser had city workers rip the mural out. The symbolism was once again quite powerful, albeit in a different direction. Trump had long complained about the plaza, and Republicans in Congress had threatened to take action, but hadn't done so yet.
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BOWSER: Now our focus is on making sure our residents and our economy survives.
KOMA: The deconstruction of such a well-known piece of public art may be the most visible example of D.C.'s new posture towards Trump, but it's hardly the only one. After all, Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over the city's government. He has signed an executive order aimed at combating crime and homelessness in the city, and he's even contemplated exercising his powers to temporarily seize control of local police. Here's Trump on Air Force One in February.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I like the mayor. I get along great with the mayor. But they're not doing the job. Too much crime, too much graffiti.
KOMA: The city already has very limited self-governance, known as home rule. So when the White House does things like complain about a specific tent encampment near the State Department's offices, as it did in March, city officials rush to clear it out. It's an approach that has rankled some in the heavily Democratic city. But lawmakers, like D.C. council member Zachary Parker, are willing to forgive some cooperation with the administration by the mayor if it protects the city's autonomy.
ZACHARY PARKER: I know they appreciate that the district itself is in a very precarious situation, with congressional interference and the threat of all types of impacts to home rule.
KOMA: Still, a dispute last month at the U.S. Institute of Peace points to the tensions within the city. Elon Musk's team from the Department of Government Efficiency was trying to gain access to the institute's headquarters after firing the nonprofit's leadership. But when staff wouldn't let them inside, federal prosecutors called D.C. police to the scene. After some back and forth, officers escorted Musk's team into the building. There's still legal action playing out about whether the White House was allowed to do this. But some lawmakers, like D.C. council member Janeese Lewis George, question whether local cops should have agreed to help.
JANEESE LEWIS GEORGE: There is this whole theme of, let's be preemptively complicit. I just don't think that is the right strategy for us moving forward.
KOMA: Hanging over any interaction between the feds and the locals is the city's looming budget crisis. Congress has barred the city from spending roughly $1.1 billion of its own money as part of an obscure provision of a government funding bill. The Senate passed legislation to reverse that change, but the House of Representatives still has not done so, despite intense lobbying from D.C. leaders. Bowser has ordered cuts while debate in the House drags on, but Ankit Jain, who advocates for D.C. statehood as a shadow senator, observes that the city's position is made that much more difficult by being forced to rely on the federal government for something as simple as spending its own money.
ANKIT JAIN: The only reason we're in this situation is because D.C. is not a state.
KOMA: Trump has said he wants the funding deal to get done. If it doesn't, then city leaders may choose to reevaluate their approach.
For NPR News in Washington, D.C., I'm Alex Koma.
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