President Trump is threatening to federalize the District of Columbia — and the catalyst is an unusual one.

In the early hours of Sunday, a young man was allegedly beaten in an attempted carjacking in the nation’s capital.

The man in question is Edward Coristine, who had a burst of fame earlier this year owing to the combination of his role in Elon Musk’s quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his nickname: "Big Balls."

Trump on Tuesday afternoon posted a message on social media that included a photo of a bloodied Coristine and the president’s sentiments that crime in Washington was “totally out of control.”

Although Trump neither named Coristine nor made any reference to his DOGE role, he added that “if D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run.”

Asked at a White House event with Apple’s Tim Cook on Wednesday afternoon about overturning home rule for D.C., Trump replied, “We’re going to look at that. In fact, the lawyers are already studying it.”

Those remarks mark a new phase in Trump’s tumultuous relationship with the city.

Here are the main takeaways.

What can Trump do?

Trump would struggle to fully federalize D.C. because doing so would require a repeal of the law that gives Washington its current measure of self-government — the Home Rule Act of 1973.

Repeal would need the approval of the House and the Senate. Trump might well be able to get such a measure through the lower chamber, but he would struggle mightily to overcome Democratic resistance in the Senate. Trump would need a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes, and there are only 53 Republicans.

However, as The Washington Post and others have noted, a president does have other powers that can be used at his discretion.

One enables Trump to take control of the district’s........

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