ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to declare a national emergency and federalize Washington, DC police if the city stops cooperating with immigration enforcement.

Trump claimed on his social media platform Truth Social that after sending in national guard troops, the federal government has transformed the capital from "one of the most dangerous and murder ridden cities" to "one of the safest" in just weeks. He said Washington is "absolutely booming, with restaurants, stores, and businesses packed" with "virtually NO CRIME."

Multiple media outlets have reported that restaurant business was suffering under the controversial guard deployment. Official figures also said crime was low in the capital before Trump’s move, but he dismissed the figures as fake.

Trump went after Muriel Bowse, the city’s Democratic mayor, who recently told federal authorities that the Metropolitan Police Department would no longer cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying that she "has presided over this violent criminal takeover of our Capital for years.”

Bowser said earlier that she expects that the department would return to a "pre-emergency status quo" after Trump's 30-day emergency control of the city's Metropolitan Police expires.

"If I allowed this to happen, CRIME would come roaring back," Trump claimed

The president vowed that he "WON'T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I'll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!"

Trump declared a "crime emergency" in Washington in August, placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploying National Guard troops to patrol streets.

The administration has claimed significant crime reductions during the federal intervention period, but critics said the accomplishments were illusory and the deployment was mostly meant to make Black and Democratic mayors look incompetent.