By ASHRAF KHALIL, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The questions came fast to the mayor of the nation’s capital, many of them designed to get her to say something harsh about Donald Trump — in particular, the president’s freshly announced plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and call in the National Guard.

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But, for the most part, third-term Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser didn’t take the bait. She calmly laid out the city’s case that crime has been dropping steadily and said Trump’s perceived state of emergency simply doesn’t match the numbers.

She also flatly stated that the capital city’s hands are tied and that her administration has little choice but to comply. “We could contest that,” she said of Trump’s definition of a crime emergency, “but his authority is pretty broad.”

Her comments came Monday hours after Trump, flanked by the people who oversee the military and the Justice Department, said that in the hopes of reducing crime he would be taking over Washington’s police department and activating 800 members of the National Guard, some of whom arrived early Tuesday. The crime Trump talked about is the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably.

Toward the end, the mayoral composure slipped a bit when Bowser made a reference to Trump’s “so-called emergency” and concluded, “I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster.”

The city and Trump have had a bumpy relationship

While Trump invokes his plan by saying that “we’re going to take our capital back,” Bowser and the MPD maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023. Carjackings, for example, dropped about 50% in 2024, and are down again this year. More than half of those arrested, however, are juveniles, and the extent of those punishments is a point of contention for the Trump administration.

Bowser, a Democrat, spent much of Trump’s first term in office openly sparring with the Republican president. She fended off his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition when he called in a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to confront anti-police brutality protesters in summer 2020. She later had the words “Black Lives Matter” painted in giant yellow letters on the street about a block from the White House.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on President Donald Trump’s plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

In Trump’s second term, backed by Republican control of both houses of Congress, Bowser has walked a public tightrope for months, emphasizing common ground with the Trump administration on issues such as the successful effort to bring the NFL’s Washington Commanders back to the District of Columbia.

She watched with open concern for the city streets as Trump finally got his military parade this summer. Her decision to dismantle Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year served as a neat metaphor for just how much the power dynamics between the two executives had evolved.

Now that fraught relationship enters uncharted territory as Trump has followed through on months of what many D.C. officials had quietly hoped were empty threats. The new standoff has cast Bowser in a sympathetic light, even among her longtime critics.

“It’s a power play and we’re an easy target,” said Clinique Chapman, CEO of the D.C. Justice Lab. A frequent critic of Bowser, whom she accuses of “over policing our youth” with the recent expansions of Washington’s youth curfew, Chapman said Trump’s latest move “is not about creating a safer D.C. It’s just about power.”

Where the power actually lies

Bowser contends that all of the power resides with Trump, and her administration can do little other than comply and make the best of it. The native Washingtonian spent much of Monday’s press conference tying Trump’s takeover to the larger issue of statehood for the District of Columbia. As long as Washington, D.C., remains a federal enclave with limited autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, she said it will remain vulnerable to such takeovers.

“We know that access to our democracy is tenuous,” Bowser said. “That is why you have heard me, and many many Washingtonians before me, advocate for full statehood for the District of Columbia.”

Section 740 of the Home Rule Act allows the president to take over Washington’s police for 48 hours, with possible extensions to 30 days, during times of emergencies. No president has done so before, said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. chapter.

Federal law enforcement officers patrol The Wharf, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“That should alarm everyone,” she said, “not just in Washington.”

For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement. The District of Columbia’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.

“Let me be crystal clear,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said during Trump’s announcement news conference. “Crime in D.C. is ending and ending today.”

The action fits a presidential pattern

Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency fits the general pattern of his second term in office: He has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs, enabling him to essentially rule via executive order. In many cases, he has moved forward while the courts sorted them out.

Bowser’s claims about successfully driving down violent crime rates received backing earlier this year from an unlikely source. Ed Martin, Trump’s original choice for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, issued a press release in April hailing a 25% drop in violent crime rates from the previous year.

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the efforts of our ‘Make D.C. Safe Again’ initiative, the District has seen a significant decline in violent crime,” Martin said. “We are proving that strong enforcement, and smart policies can make our communities safer.”

In May, Trump abandoned his efforts to get Martin confirmed for the post in the face of opposition in Congress. His replacement candidate, former judge and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, was recently confirmed. On Monday, Pirro — standing next to Trump — called his takeover “the step that we need right now to make criminals understand that they are not going to get away with it anymore.”

Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business Writer

Less than a week after demanding his resignation, President Donald Trump is now calling the career of Intel’s CEO an “amazing story.”

Shares of Intel, which slid last week after CEO Lip-Bu Tan came under fire from the U.S. president, bounced higher before the opening bell Tuesday.

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The attack from Trump came after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. Cotton asked Intel if Tan had divested from the companies to eliminate any potential conflict of interest.

Trump said on the Truth Social platform Thursday that, “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!”

Tan was named Intel CEO in March and it is unclear if he has divested his interests in the chip companies.

Tan said in a message to employees that there was misinformation circulating about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems and said that he’d “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards.”

After a Monday meeting with Tan at the White House, Trump backed off his demand that Tan resign without hesitation.

“I met with Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, of Intel, along with Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “The meeting was a very interesting one. His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Shares of Intel rose gained more than 3% in premarket trading.

FILE – The Intel logo is displayed on the exterior of Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Jan. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

The economic and political rivalry between the U.S. and China are increasingly focused on computer chips, AI and other digital technologies that are expected to shape future economies and military conflicts.

By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders appealed on Tuesday to U.S. President Donald Trump to defend their security interests at a key summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later this week over the war in Ukraine.

Putin appeared to be on the verge of making a key territorial grab ahead of Friday’s summit, potentially to use as leverage in any peace negotiations.

Concerns over the summit

The Europeans are desperate to exert some influence over the meeting from which they have been sidelined. It remains unclear whether even Ukraine will take part. Trump has said that he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year.

But Trump has disappointed U.S. allies in Europe by saying that Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said that Russia must accept land swaps, although it remains unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.

FILE – President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Attorney General Pam Bondi look on. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to cow the EU, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.

The overarching fear for European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.

In a statement early on Tuesday, the leaders said that they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they underlined, “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

“A just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force,” they said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the idea that Ukraine must commit to giving up land to secure a ceasefire. Russia holds shaky control over four of the country’s regions, two in the country’s east and two in the south.

Zelenskyy on Monday thanked European leaders for their support and urged for more diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow as long as “they continue the war and occupation.”

“We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war,” Zelenskyy posted on Telegram. “On the contrary, they are carrying out movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations. Under such conditions, it is important that nothing threatens the unity of the world.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Zelenskyy’s office, said anything short of Russia’s strategic defeat would mean that any ceasefire deal would be on Moscow’s terms, erode international law and send a dangerous signal to the world.

Putin’s ultimate goal is to “eliminate Ukraine as a sovereign state by dismantling its military, foreign policy and right to self-determination,” Podolyak said on Telegram.

Russia closes in on a major city

In Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on Telegram. Soldiers rushing to shelters were hit with cluster munitions, according to the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

Meanwhile, Russia appeared close to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, as its forces were reported to be rapidly infiltrating positions north of Pokrovsk.

In this photo provided by Ukraine’s 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits practice military skills on a training ground on a sunflower field in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine’s 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

Military analysts using open source information to monitor the battles say the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important battlefield victory ahead of the summit. It would also complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of its military efforts.

“A lot will depend on availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,” Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote in a post on X late Monday.

Ukraine’s military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region’s Ukrainian military command posted on Facebook Monday that enemy soldiers penetrating Ukrainian lines to capture more territory “face inevitable death” but acknowledges that the situation remains “difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.”

Putin’s public rehabilitation

On Monday, Trump repeated that “there’ll be some land swapping going on.” He said that this would involve “some bad stuff for both” Ukraine and Russia. His seemingly public rehabilitation of Putin — a pariah in most of Europe — has unnerved Ukraine’s backers.

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Trump was also critical of Zelenskyy, noting that Ukraine’s leader had been in power for the duration of the war and said “nothing happened” during that time. He contrasted that with Putin, who has wielded power unchallenged in Russia for decades.

It’s unclear whether the Europeans were unsettled by Trump mistakenly saying twice he would be traveling to Russia on Friday to meet Putin. The summit is taking place in the U.S. state of Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the U.S. in a land deal in 1867.

The Europeans will make a fresh attempt to rally Trump to Ukraine’s cause on Wednesday at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump did not confirm whether he would take part, but he did say: “I’m going to get everybody’s ideas” before meeting with Putin.

Tuesday’s statement was also meant to be a demonstration of European unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin’s closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, did not endorse it. He was the only one of the bloc’s 27 leaders who refused to do so.

Associated Press writers Samya Kullab and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed to this report.

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 12, the 224th day of 2025. There are 141 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 12, 2017, a driver sped into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring more than a dozen others. (The attacker, James Alex Fields, was sentenced to life in prison on 29 federal hate crime charges, and life plus 419 years on state charges.)

Also on this date:

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies. (Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.)

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FACT FOCUS: Trump exaggerates, misstates facts on Washington crime

In 1898, fighting in the Spanish-American War came to an end.

In 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, first opened.

In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.

In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.

In 1960, the first balloon communications satellite — the Echo 1 — was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150, at a press conference in New York.

In 1985, the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. Four passengers survived.

In 1990, fossil collector Sue Hendrickson found one of the largest and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons ever discovered; nicknamed “Sue” after Hendrickson, the skeleton is now on display at Chicago’s Field Museum.

In 1994, in baseball’s eighth work stoppage since 1972, players went on strike rather than allow team owners to limit their salaries.

In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea.

In 2013, James “Whitey” Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives, was convicted in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant. (Bulger was sentenced to life; he was fatally beaten at a West Virginia prison in 2018, hours after being transferred from a facility in Florida.)

In 2022, Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and stabbed in the neck by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.

Today’s Birthdays:

Investor and philanthropist George Soros is 95.
Actor George Hamilton is 86.
Singer-musician Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 76.
Singer Kid Creole (Kid Creole and the Coconuts) is 75.
Film director Chen Kaige is 73.
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 71.
Actor Bruce Greenwood is 69.
Basketball Hall of Famer Lynette Woodard is 66.
Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 62.
Actor Peter Krause (KROW’-zuh) is 60.
Tennis Hall of Famer Pete Sampras is 54.
Actor-comedian Michael Ian Black is 54.
Actor Yvette Nicole Brown is 54.
Actor Casey Affleck is 50.
Boxer Tyson Fury is 37.
Actor Lakeith Stanfield is 34.
NBA All-Star Khris Middleton is 34.
Actor Cara Delevingne (DEHL’-eh-veen) is 33.
Tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas is 27.