Trump government maintains Washington police chief in office

“As I interpret the law, the president may ask, the mayor must provide, but the president cannot control,” said Reyes.

Tense relationships between Trump and Washington

Earlier this week, Trump sent hundreds of National Guard soldiers to Washington, arguing that it would be a measure of crackdown on crime. He called “Liberation Day” and stated that the city needed to be rescued from the “crime, bloodshed, chaos and misery.”

In the night before the order’s entry into force, Trump expanded the reach of his control of the city’s police agencies and placed the police department under the control of the federal government.

The lawsuit, filed by Washington Attorney General Brian Schwalb, sought an order that declared control as illegal. The two parties argued in court for hours on Friday, before Reyes insisted that they reached an agreement.

The attempt to take control of the US capital police was Trump’s latest attempt to test the reach of his legal authority.