Even GOP state officials are warning of 'increasingly hostile relationship' with the feds
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A federal agent is surrounded by protesters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Leah Millis
In the past, many Democratic mayors tried to maintain a dialogue with conservative Republican presidential administrations despite strong policy differences. Members of Democratic former Philadelphia Mayor John Street's administration were critical of the George W. Bush Administration, yet when President Bush visited Philly for Fourth of July celebrations in 2001, Street rolled out the red carpet for him.
Similarly, quite a few Democratic mayors worked with the Reagan Administration during the 1980s despite their vehement criticism of Reaganomics.
But in 2026, tensions between Democratic mayors and President Donald Trump are growing "increasingly hostile," according to the Associated Press (AP). And AP reporter Steven Sloan, in an article published on February 6, stresses that mayors and other local officials are actively taking steps to prepare for attacks from the Trump Administration.
"A half-dozen state and local officials from both major political parties, over the past week, described an increasingly hostile relationship with Washington," Sloan reports. "While there's inherent tension between city, state and federal governments over power, politics and money, the current dynamic is unlike anything they've experienced, particularly after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month."
Sloan cites Denver Mayor Mike Johnston as an example of a Democrat who views U.S. cities as under attack.
Johnston told AP, "We used to prepare for natural disasters. Now, we prepare for our own federal government."
But Democrats aren't the only state and local officials who are worried about the Trump Administration.
Republican Fresno, California Mayor Jerry Dyer told AP, "This is unprecedented. 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."
Another Republican, Burnsville, Minnesota Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, told AP that because of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, she now carries her passport for identification.
Kautz told AP, "With the introduction of ICE, our cities are no longer safe."
"Tensions" between the Trump Administration and non-MAGA mayors and governors, according to Sloan, "have upended longtime Republican arguments that the federal government should leave local governance to the states under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
"Now," Sloan reports, "a Republican president is articulating a muscular federal approach over the protest of Democrats…. The president’s willingness to use federal power is often issue-based, favoring states in areas like abortion or education while embracing a strong federal role on immigration and elections. Trump said, this week, that Republicans should 'nationalize' elections — a power the Constitution expressly gives to states.