WASHINGTON ― As President Donald Trump takes over Washington DC’s police force and brings in the National Guard, he isn’t just talking about clearing homeless camps and reducing the murder rate.
He wants to rip out and replace the grass at DC parks.
“We’re going to be redoing the parks, redoing the grass,” Trump said on Aug. 13 as he named the latest slate of Kennedy Center honorees from Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “You know, grass has a lifetime, like people have a lifetime. And the lifetime of this grass is long. It’s been gone, when you look at the parks.”
Trump’s push for a grass makeover comes as he’s vowed not only to tackle crime in the nation’s capital but to also make D.C. “so beautiful again.” Echoing the language of his long career in real estate, Trump has talked about D.C. like he might a fixer-upper property. He wants graffiti painted over, litter picked up and ‒ yes ‒ grass replaced at parks.
“The grass is old, tired, exhausted,” Trump said. “We’re going to be redoing the grass with the finest grasses. I know a lot about grass because I own a lot of golf courses. And if you don’t have good grass, you’re not in business very long.”
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Trump did not identify the parks he has in mind for grass replacement. Several of D.C.’s most recognizable parks, including the National Mall, are federal parks managed by the National Park Service. Others are local parks managed by DC’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
Washington DC is in the middle of a dry spell, making grass around town browner and barer than usual. For the past five years, Washington DC has been named the nation’s best big-city park system by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.
More: President Trump says other US cities could be next as he deploys National Guard to DC
Trump to ask Congress to extend police takeover beyond 30 days
Trump on Aug. 11 took control of Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department by declaring a “crime emergency” under the Home Rule Act of 1973, even as the city’s violent crime has dropped by 26% this year. He also deployed 800 National Guard troops to DC, declaring he wants to rescue it from “crime, bloodshed, bedlam, squalor and worse.”
Under the Home Rule Act, however, Trump’s federal takeover of the police department must end within 30 days unless he gets approval from Congress.
Trump said he plans to submit crime-related legislation to Congress “very quickly” that will include extending the federalized police force in D.C. beyond 30 days. He said he expects unanimous Republican support for the measure.
“We’re going to be asking for extensions on that ‒ long-term extensions ‒ because you can’t have (just) 30 days,” he said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump takes aim at Washington DC’s ‘old, tired, exhausted’ grass
