A former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was beaten in a carjacking attempt over the weekend in Washington, D.C., getting the attention of President Donald Trump on Monday.
Edward Coristine, 19, was attacked by 10 teens in downtown Washington, the New York Post reported, citing a Metropolitan Police Department incident report.
Coristine, who was with a woman, “pushed his significant other … into the vehicle and turned to deal with the suspects,” according to the report. “The suspects then began to assault [Coristine].”
Police arrived as Coristine was being attacked, according to the Post, and two people were arrested.
Trump used a photo of a bloodied Coristine, sitting shirtless on the ground, in a post to Truth Social on Monday, warning the city’s leaders to get a handle on crime.
“The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs. … If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime,” Trump said in the post.
DOGE staffer Marko Elez took the photo of Coristine after the attack, Politico reported.
Coristine resigned from DOGE in late June, a month after former chief Elon Musk left the agency.
Musk also called on Trump to “federalize DC” in a post to X on Tuesday.
Coristine’s youth and online moniker, “Big Balls,” became a pop-culture meme as DOGE swept through the U.S. government, seizing data and firing employees en masse. Coristine now works for the Social Security Administration, according to Politico.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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