(AP)
President Donald Trump’s administration has announced a federal takeover of Washington D.C.’s Union Station, just days after a publicity event involving top officials unraveled into chaos.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed Wednesday that his department will reclaim management of the historic rail hub as part of the administration’s broader campaign to assert control over the capital. The move comes amid Trump’s controversial measures, which already include deploying National Guard troops across the city, assisting police in fighting crime, and even overseeing garbage collection.
“Instead of being a point of pride, Washington’s Union Station has fallen into disrepair,” Duffy said in a statement published by The Washington Post. “By reclaiming station management, we will help make this city safe and beautiful at a fraction of the cost.”
The announcement follows a disastrous visit last week by Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who were met with a hostile crowd while attempting a photo opportunity with Guard soldiers at Union Station. The officials arrived bearing boxes of cheeseburgers for troops, but the moment quickly soured as chants of “Free D.C.” erupted from passersby.
Witnesses reported a barrage of heckling, including slurs and insults directed at the vice president. Shouts of “f—ing Nazi” and “get the f— out of my city” rang out, while one heckler mocked Vance with a crude reference to an internet meme stemming from his Hillbilly Elegy memoir.
During the tense scene, Vance was questioned about why soldiers were being stationed at Union Station rather than in high-crime neighborhoods. He defended the deployment, claiming the transit hub is rife with “vagrants, drug addicts, the chronically homeless and the mentally ill,” which he said makes visitors feel unsafe in the nation’s capital.
The Department of Transportation has pledged improvements as part of the takeover, including new lighting, elevator repairs, and a roof overhaul. Currently, Union Station is managed by the nonprofit Union Station Redevelopment Corp, but the administration’s plan calls for full federal control to be completed by September, according to Reuters.
With tensions between city residents and federal authorities already running high, the Union Station takeover marks yet another flashpoint in Trump’s effort to reshape Washington by asserting direct White House control over its most visible institutions.
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