President Donald Trump suggests he could take over police in NYC, but it's not clear he has the authority

WASHINGTON — Could President Donald Trump take over New York’s local law enforcement operations?

That became a question Monday as Trump authorized a plan to place Washington, D.C.’s police force under temporary federal control and said at a White House press briefing that New York City and other urban centers are also on his radar.

"We have other cities that are very bad," Trump said. "New York has a problem, and then you have of course Baltimore and Oakland ... we’re not going to lose our cities over this, and this will go further."

Trump said he hoped other cities were watching his announcement and would "self cleanup," before adding: "I’m going to look at New York in a little while."

But while Trump has the ability to control the District of Columbia’s day-to-day operations given its status as a federal district established under the U.S. Constitution, he does not have the same authority over other state and local police forces, legal scholars told Newsday.

Trump has the authority to seize 30-day-control of Washington’s local police force under the Nixon-era Home Rule Act, which permits the president to take over the District of Columbia’s department for up to 30 days with an emergency declaration. After that, he would need congressional approval to extend the takeover.

"He has no constitutional authority over the NYPD," said Jeffrey Fagan, a Columbia Law School professor who focuses on crime, policing and gun control. "It’s a local law enforcement [agency] chartered and managed under New York State law."

Trump may not have the authority to federalize the NYPD or other local police departments, but he could use other mechanisms to pressure local officials to change current policies, Fagan said in an email. Possibilities would include "withholding or clawing back federal funds" or directing the Department of Justice to investigate certain practices "that may violate federal law and obtain a court order for the NYPD to end or reform those practices." 

The president could also mobilize the state National Guard to assist local authorities, but there are limits to what kind of enforcement guard soldiers can provide if deputized by Trump, said Jillian Snider, an associate lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"It would be more as a backup to the local law enforcement, but they would not have the powers of arrest," Snider, a former NYPD officer, said in a phone interview.

Even if Trump were to deploy the New York National Guard, Snider said he could face legal challenges such as the one the administration is currently dealing with in California, after deploying California National Guard troops in June to respond to widespread protests in Los Angeles spurred by a series of immigration raids.

Trump activated the guard over the objections of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, who argued the move violated the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the president from using the military as a domestic police force, according to reporting by The Associated Press. A federal judge on Monday was set to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed by the state seeking an end to Trump’s use of the guard for law enforcement purposes.

Aaron Saiger, a professor at Fordham Law School and director of its Urban Law Center, said while Trump may not have the explicit authority to take over state and local police departments, there’s no guarantee his administration won't try to test the limits of his authority.

"This administration has been fairly willing to act at the margins of their legal power," Saiger said in a phone interview.

Asked about Trump's remarks, Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said in a statement to Newsday: "While we are always open to working with our federal law enforcement partners to continue driving down crime, New York City, under Mayor Adams’ and NYPD Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch’s leadership, continues to be the safest big city in America."

Trump has previously floated the prospect of a federal takeover of New York City, telling reporters at a July 8 cabinet meeting he would consider the idea if Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race.

He said: "We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.