Washington, D.C., is erasing one of its most visible symbols of the 2020 protests— the giant Black Lives Matter mural painted on a street just a block from the White House. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who once championed the mural as an act of defiance against then-President Donald Trump, now says the city has bigger battles to fight.
“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period,” Bowser posted on X Tuesday. “But now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”
The move marks a major shift in Bowser’s approach toward Trump and congressional Republicans. Back in June 2020, she not only ordered the massive yellow lettering but also renamed the area Black Lives Matter Plaza—a direct response to days of intense protests after George Floyd’s killing by police. At the time, Trump accused her of losing control of the city and even threatened to take over the Metropolitan Police Department. Though he never followed through, he did escalate tensions by deploying federal agents and using low-flying helicopters to intimidate protesters.
Fast forward to Trump’s second term, and Bowser is taking a much different approach. She’s avoided direct conflict with the White House, even traveling to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to meet with him after his election. Instead of clashing, she’s highlighting areas where they align—like their shared desire to bring federal workers back to their offices.
But Trump’s renewed calls for a federal “takeover” of D.C. have put the city on edge. He’s painted Washington as a crime-ridden mess, full of graffiti and homeless encampments. Meanwhile, Congress—now controlled by Republicans—has been ramping up its efforts to interfere in local governance. A proposed bill, dubbed the BOWSER Act, aims to strip the city of its limited autonomy altogether, and lawmakers have been using budget measures to meddle in everything from marijuana laws to traffic rules.
On top of all this, Trump’s push to slash the federal workforce is hitting D.C. hard. The city’s chief financial officer recently warned of a looming $1 billion budget shortfall over the next three years as thousands of federal jobs disappear.
But Bowser’s latest decision isn’t just drawing criticism from Republicans—it’s also reigniting old tensions with activists. Back in 2020, local Black Lives Matter leaders dismissed the mural as “performative wokeness,” arguing Bowser was still too aligned with law enforcement. Now, they’re slamming her for removing it.
Nee Nee Taylor, a founding member of D.C.’s Black Lives Matter affiliate, didn’t hold back. “You never cared about Black Lives Mattering,” she wrote on X. “You painting those words was performative.”
With the mural coming down and political battles heating up, one thing is clear—D.C. is heading into another turbulent chapter.
