President Donald Trump on Friday said he would ask Congress for billions in taxpayer dollars for his effort to clean up the District of Columbia and make it safer, arguing the capital city was a “hellhole” before he took over its policing.

“Look, D.C. is a miracle,” he told reporters Friday during a stop at a new White House Historical Association museum about the White House. “You live here. Have you been mugged? OK, D.C. was a hellhole, and now it’s safe.”

Trump revealed a coming $2 billion request of lawmakers for the district, which could be a tough sell among fiscally conservative, far-right GOP House members. He also called on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, to step up her efforts to make her city more attractive and safe.

“Now it’s going to be clean. I’m giving out a cont

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