President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to have the federal government take control of Washington, D.C., after an assault on a well-known original staffer for the Department of Government Efficiency in the nation’s capital over the weekend.
Edward Coristine, also known by his online name, “Big Balls,” and a woman characterized in a police report as his significant other were the victims of an unarmed attempted carjacking early Sunday.
Washington Metropolitan Police on Tuesday announced the arrests of two 15-year-old suspects from Maryland.
In a social media post that did not mention Coristine by name, Trump described crime in Washington as being “totally out of control.”
“Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying minors as young as 14 should be tried as adults.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” he added.
Former DOGE head Elon Musk posted a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post on X and echoed his call to have the federal government take control of Washington.
Musk also referred to an unnamed DOGE staffer in his post.
“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,” Musk wrote on X. “A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her.”
The police report said the vehicle belonged to Coristine.
The report added that police officers saw about 10 “juveniles” surrounding the car and assaulting Coristine, which prompted the officers to get out of their vehicle and all but two of the juveniles, whom police arrested, to flee. Police said that in an interview, Coristine said he pushed the woman identified as his significant other into the car and “turned to deal with the suspects,” who in turn assaulted him.
Police said the case is under investigation by the Carjacking Task Force, with multiple suspects outstanding.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, posted a video on X on Tuesday saying she had just met with Trump to discuss “crime in the nation’s capital.”
“Our job is to get guns off the street, drugs off the street, take care of those individuals who are threatening, carjacking other people, and make this city safe and clean again. And that’s just what we’re going to do. And if you don’t buy into it, you’re going to have to deal with us,” Pirro said.
She did not mention Coristine in her video.
Despite Trump’s claims of “out of control” violence in the city, violent crime is down 26% from last year, according to preliminary police figures. At the same time, the alleged attack on Coristine comes about a month after a 21-year-old congressional intern was caught in crossfire and fatally shot in Washington.
Trump has previously expressed a desire to “clean up” the nation’s capital and has threatened a federal takeover of the city, which already has limited ability to self-govern. Congress has the ability to rescind those powers at its and the president’s discretion.
