Washington is challenging President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court after his administration increased federal control over the city.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb late Thursday called a federal directive naming the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as Washington’s "emergency police commissioner" unlawful and unenforceable.

Trump has painted a picture of the U.S. capital as a city gripped by a wave of crime and pervasive homelessness, despite both federal and city crime statistics showing that violent crime has declined precipitously since a spike in 2023.