Trump says he may declare emergency to extend takeover of DC police beyond 30 days

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is all but certain to extend the 30-day window under which he has taken control of local police in the nation's capital, suggesting he may use his executive powers to circumvent Congress.

Trump took control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed 800 National Guard members to Washington, D.C. on Monday when he invoked Section 740 of the 1973 Home Rule Act as the legal pretext for federalizing D.C. police. The article allows for a president to declare an emergency in the capital and assume control of the department for up to 30 days.

Trump said that he may declare a national emergency to extend his hold over the Metropolitan Police Department even further, but also called on Congress to pass legislation to do so.

"If it's a national emergency, we can do it without Congress, but we expect to be before Congress very quickly," he said at the Kennedy Center, where he was announcing the recipients of this year's honors, including actor Sylvester Stallone and rock band KISS.

"We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C. We're going to use it as a very positive example, and we're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days," he added.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that 23 people were taken into custody for various offenses in the wake of Trump's decision to federalize the police force. It is unclear how that compares to an average night of arrests in the city of over 700,000 people.