President Donald Trump threatened D.C. home rule when asked Thursday about the race for D.C. mayor.

In the Oval Office Thursday, Trump warned if Janeese Lewis George wins next week’s Democratic primary and becomes D.C.’s next mayor, the federal government could take over the nation’s capital.

“Well, I wouldn’t like it, and maybe we’d take back Washington and run it on the federal basis,” Trump said. “We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses. By the way, Washington, now, is a safe, beautiful place.”

“People are coming; restaurants are thriving,” the president added. “The restaurants were all closing, closed. Nobody wanted. Now you can’t get restaurant space, you can’t get into. We have a thriving community; we got rid of the crime.”

Trump was responding to a reporter asking about Lewis George running a “Zohran Mamdani campaign,” in reference to New York City’s mayor, that focuses on “socialist” policies.

“We are not going to get ICE off our streets by fearing this president,” Lewis George said in a statement. “We are not going to protect our rights or Home Rule by obeying in advance.

“Threatening Home Rule because you do not like how residents vote is an attack on democracy itself,” she said.

The campaign for Kenyan McDuffie, Lewis George’s main competition in Tuesday’s primary, released a statement saying, “The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher, but DC decides who will be the next mayor, not Donald Trump.”

The statement defended home rule and noted overreach by the Trump administration, promising to “revive our economy that Trump’s policies have decimated, including the tens of thousands of residents who have been laid off by his unconscionable actions with Elon Musk.”

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The president’s comments insinuated threats to D.C. he’s made dating back two years to his campaign.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has tried to keep the Trump administration at bay, but Trump did federalize the Metropolitan Police Department, deploy the National Guard in the city and establish the Safe and Beautiful Task Force.

Trump needs Congress to overturn home rule in the District, and at least through 2026, Republicans control the House and Senate, which have shown willingness to interfere in D.C.

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