For days after Janeese Lewis George decisively won the DC mayoral primary, Donald Trump didn’t say much about it. Then, last Sunday, he logged into Truth Social to call her a communist.
“I will meet with Janeese Lewis George, but must forewarn everyone that Washington, D.C. is again a Safe and Prestigious Community,” he wrote. “Many people, including myself, have worked long and hard to get it there, and we will not let it be destroyed by a Communist adherent who has no intention to, MAKE WASHINGTON GREAT AGAIN!”
The mayor of DC is at the mercy of the president in many ways, and the two seem headed for a clash. But it may not have to go that way.
After Trump met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, the two had a cordial press conference and the president said “I’ll be cheering for him.” Mayor Muriel Bowser has also established a working—if strained—relationship with the president, though DC voters haven’t always appreciated her careful stance toward his administration.
We asked Lewis George how she plans to approach meeting with Trump.
“I want to be clear that I am prepared to stand up to anyone who harms our residents, and that includes Donald Trump,” she told Washingtonian. “My plan with Trump is to be clear about where my lines are—that being protecting and standing up for DC residents—but also that I’m willing to work with him.”
The presumptive mayor-elect mentioned a few areas of potential collaboration: building housing downtown, turning disused federal buildings in Southwest DC into a new neighborhood similar to NoMa, and improving Union Station.
“I’m also going to come to the table being clear of what leverage I have and do not have,” Lewis George said, adding that she would not hesitate to turn to Attorney General Brian Schwalb and to allies in the House and Senate—especially if Democrats gain majorities—to resist actions by the president.
Regardless, she’ll likely meet with the president before taking office. Only a few people—former DC mayors and their advisers—really understand what it’s like to be in Lewis George’s position.
“She won decisively, and so I think she has license to deal with it aggressively,” says former DC Mayor Sharon Pratt. “But I think she’s smart enough to know she just has a butter knife. She doesn’t have a lot of ammunition.”
Beverly Perry, a close adviser to Bowser who retired late last year, says the fundamental goals of the president and the mayor don’t need to be far apart—anyone can agree on beautification and reducing crime.
Perry was present when Bowser met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after he won the election. She says that meeting led to the National Park Service’s $54 million fountain restoration drive around DC. She recounted the conversation.
“[Bowser] said to him: ‘what is it that you want to see in DC? What can we work on together?,’ ” Perry says. “He wanted beautification. Mayor Bowser said, ‘I want beautification. We’re trying.’ He said, ‘well, I could put more money into it if I was in charge of it.’ She said, ‘you don’t have to be in charge to spend money on it.’ He said, ‘no?’ She said, ‘I’ll give you an example: There are X number of fountains that would instantly make the city more beautiful, and they all belong to the feds, and none of them work.’ And he said ‘oh really?’ ” And now we know what has happened with the fountains. He didn’t consult with her as far as I know, he just directed the Park Service to find the money and work on those fountains.”
Perry continued: “The citizens of the District of Columbia feel that there should be some fight. Not everything is a fight.”
Longtime DC political consultant Chuck Thies thinks Lewis George’s biggest challenge will be her base, not the president. Voters elected her in part because of frustration with Bowser’s measured approach. Now she has to deliver.
“The base wants her to poke her finger in Donald Trump’s eye, and she simply cannot do that,” Thies says. “If she wants to be part of the resistance, she’s going to find out exactly how much disdain Donald Trump has for that.”
Mamdani’s base actually did not particularly knock him for his cozy meeting with Trump, which was a master class on how to manage the president’s personality. But the New York mayor did benefit from some factors outside his control: Trump grew up in and sincerely loves New York, whereas he seems to know little of DC as a city beyond the White House. Both men know Queens well, but Trump probably couldn’t tell you much about Ward 4, Lewis George’s home turf. And Mamdani has an attention-grabbing star power that appeals to the president.
“When you’re not a cultural icon, it’s hard to go toe-to-toe with the president,” says Michael Lange, a political writer and strategist who has chronicled Mamdani’s rise. “Also, Trump has a much more antagonistic, negative view of Washington, DC, than he does of New York.”
Trump views DC as his personal fiefdom and ultimately wants to be able to shape it according to his whims. But the same basic principle from the Mamdani meeting applies: once you meet with him in person, he often drops the antagonistic schtick and likes to cut a deal.
“Trump is transactional,” Perry says. “In person, he does not have that kind of fight in him.”
Sydney Carroll contributed reporting to this article.
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
