In addition to federalizing the District of Columbia’s police force, the Trump administration announced Wednesday that it is taking over one of the city’s major transit hubs.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press statement that the administration is “reclaiming management of Washington Union Station” because it has “fallen into disrepair.”
The federal government owns Union Station, the city’s main transportation hub, which services the city’s bus lines, subway and Amtrak, the quasi-public national railroad company. But now, the federal government said it’s taking back control of the station’s management from Amtrak and the nonprofit Union Station Redevelopment Corp. (Amtrak did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment, and a representative for the USRC “deferred questions to the Transportation Department.”)
“Instead of being a point of pride, Washington’s Union Station has fallen into disrepair,” Duffy said. “By reclaiming station management, we will help make this city safe and beautiful at a fraction of the cost.”
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted a news conference shortly after Duffy’s announcement to give an update on the federal takeover of the city. She praised the significant increase in President Donald Trump’s knowledge of the city from his first term and commended the administration’s desire to improve Union Station, saying it would be a “significant and good investment for this region.”
“If it’s about what Union Station needs for its total transformation, that would be an amazing initiative for the federal government to take on,” Bowser said, adding that Union Station needs at least $8 billion in repairs, which is more than the district can shoulder.
Union Station is the second-busiest Amtrak station in the country after New York’s Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. Deputy Transportation Secretary Steve Bradbury cited a new roof and new public restrooms among the needed upgrades.
In recent weeks, Trump activated thousands of National Guard troops and federalized Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department as part of an effort to address what he called “out of control crime” in the city.
Bowser noted at the news conference that, with additional federal law enforcement officers on the street, she thinks “there’s more accountability in the system — or at least perceived accountability in the system — that is driving down illegal behavior. We know that we have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides. And we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings.”
At the same time, Bowser fiercely criticized the takeover, saying, “What we know is not working is a break in trust between police and community, especially with new federal partners in our community. We know having masked ICE agents in the community has not worked, and National Guards from other states has not been an efficient use of those resources.”
Local reports say that rather than fighting crime, many National Guard troops have been assigned custodial duties, like picking up trash in roles that had been performed by National Park Service employees before they were laid off by the Trump administration.
CLARIFICATION (Aug. 27, 2025, 6:13 p.m. ET): This post has been updated to clarify that Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was attributing the city’s recent drop in illegal behavior to the presence of additional federal law enforcement officers, not National Guard troops.