Trump's disconnect with DC widens during viral pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser’s cellphone rang earlier this week from an unfamiliar number: It was the White House calling to say President Donald Trump wanted to talk.
The president congratulated Washington's mayor on $876 million in federal coronavirus relief going to the Washington-area Metro system — money that was welcome but not under the mayor's jurisdiction, instead going to a regional transportation authority.
Bowser used the moment to remind Trump that the District — a city of 700,000 people that includes more than 150,000 federal workers — got $700 million less in coronavirus relief money than each of the 50 states because it was classified as a territory at Senate Republicans' insistence in the first round of federal relief passed by Congress.
As a candidate, Trump spoke warmly of the nation’s capital and said he wanted “whatever is best” for its residents. But over the course of his more than three years in office a disconnect between the president and District of Columbia has emerged. The public differences have only become more stark during the pandemic.
Read more: https://dentonrc.com/ap/washington/trumps-disconnect-with-dc-widens-during-viral-pandemic/article_34f87ca7-e433-50b4-8e44-55da05f8f89b.html
(Denton Record-Chronicle)
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