Local leaders describe hostile relationship with Trump’s Washington

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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who regularly rehearses responses to threats such as tornadoes and hazardous waste leaks, said he is now planning for another potential danger: the federal government. Johnston said he added scenarios for what could happen if federal officials targeted Denver, describing the shift as prompted in part by the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the city over restrictions on cooperation tied to deportations.

Johnston’s remarks reflect a growing strain between city, state and federal leaders that multiple officials described as more intense than anything they said they had experienced before. A half-dozen state and local officials from both parties described an increasingly hostile relationship with Washington over the past week, and said the dynamic has hardened after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month.

Fresno, California, Mayor Jerry Dyer—who is a Republican and a former police chief—said the approach was beyond what he had seen before. “I’ve never seen federal law enforcement come to the cities, whether it’s National Guard or ICE, and police cities without a level of cooperation from local police,” Dyer said, linking the tension to the wider fight over how much authority the federal government should wield in local governance.

Several officials said the dispute has undercut long-standing Republican arguments favoring limits on federal involvement under the 10th Amendment. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said the Trump administration has repeatedly violated the Constitution in how it deals with states. “My hope,” Beshear said, “is that we are quickly approaching our McCarthyism moment where even Donald Trump’s supporters are going to recognize this has gone too far.”

Trump has sought to distinguish his approach, expressing frustration with what he portrays as reflexive resistance by Democratic mayors and governors while insisting he does not want to force federal law enforcement on communities. The president pointed to examples including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who requested National Guard troops to patrol New Orleans, and officials said Trump’s willingness to use federal power often depends on the issue—favoring states in some areas such as abortion or education while taking a more muscular federal role on immigration and elections.

The friction extended into disputes over election authority. Trump said this week that Republicans should “nationalize” elections, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said referred to a plan for voters to prove they are U.S. citizens, while Trump also described states as an “agent for the federal government.” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, said that is not what the Constitution says about elections, and Beshear said Paul’s comments reflected bipartisan agreement that the administration’s stance has exceeded constitutional bounds.

Ahead of the immediate fallout from Minneapolis, Trump took steps officials said were meant to reduce tensions locally. The administration replaced Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security leaders in Minneapolis with Tom Homan, described as the administration’s border czar, and Homan withdrew 700 of the roughly 3,000 federal officers deployed around Minneapolis. Trump and Vice President JD Vance rejected any suggestion of a drawdown, however, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the continued presence of thousands of federal officers in the Twin Cities contradicted the demand that the administration end its operation there.

As local and federal leaders argued over the scope of the operation, officials said the language between them became more militaristic. Trump referred to federal law enforcement in Minneapolis as “soldiers,” Homan described agents as being “in theater,” and Frey said there was an “invasion” and “occupation” in his city. Frey also said “We are on the front lines of a very important battle,” during an event where suburban Burnsville, Minnesota, Mayor Elizabeth Kautz said she now carries her passport as she moved around the city she has led since 1995.

Some leaders outside Minneapolis said they felt the impact even without being targeted. Matt Tuerk, the Democratic mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, said even people in cities such as his were affected when immigration operations elsewhere caused residents to “look over their shoulder.” “Even though you’re not in Allentown, you’re having an impact,” Tuerk said, describing how the federal approach can shape day-to-day behavior and trust in public institutions.

Officials also tied the local backlash to a broader effort they said is reshaping government priorities at home and abroad. The immigration crackdown is one element of Trump’s work to change operations and priorities, with supporters describing a need to strictly enforce immigration laws and end social safety net programs they say are prone to fraud. Locally, mayors said the sense of abrupt change is reflected in how federal partners operate, including disputes over funding that can leave cities scrambling as budgets become more dependent on shifting federal decisions.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, said the administration has used partisan politics and federal agencies to pressure mayors and local officials not to follow the law but to follow politics. Pureval said the change has been “profoundly” affecting trust at every level, while some cities said they have turned to philanthropy as federal grant patterns have become less stable.

Even so, officials said federal power remains hard to replace. Tuerk said defending grants required connecting local spending and job creation to the administration’s priorities, describing it as a message meant to be understood by federal decision-makers. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, called the federal shift “absolutely historic,” and said she often relied on administration officials she knew from her time in Washington, even as she described Minneapolis-area leaders as increasingly exhausted as the standoff continued.

At the end of the period officials described, Jim Hovland, the nonpartisan mayor of Edina, Minnesota, said the relationship had frayed and prompted questions about why the confrontation focused on certain communities. “We’ve had a historically really good relationship with the federal government, and it’s really sad to see it fray,” Hovland said.