President Donald Trump says he’s ready to send the National Guard into Washington, D.C., after a young former government staffer—nicknamed “Big Balls”— was attacked by teenagers.
The victim, Edward Coristine, 19, was hired by Elon Musk to work at the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Coristine was beaten by a group of teenagers in downtown D.C. early Sunday morning. Trump, calling the city “out of control,” used the incident to justify taking action.
“We just almost lost a young man… a beautiful, handsome guy, that got the hell knocked out of him the night before last,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday. “I’m gonna call him now, wanted to give him a little recovery time… he went through a bad situation to put it mildly, and there’s too much of it, we’re going to do something about it.”
Trump said he’s considering pulling law enforcement powers from local officials and handing them over to the federal government.
“We’re not gonna let it… And that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly too,” Trump said.
Despite the threats, police data shows violent crime in D.C. dropped 35% in 2024. But the attack on Coristine—who now works at the Social Security Administration—has ignited fresh political fire.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department report, Coristine and a woman were standing next to a car parked on the 1400 block of Swann Street at 3 a.m. Sunday. A group of teens approached, demanded the car, and assaulted Coristine.
An MPD cruiser happened to roll up mid-attack, scaring off the suspects. Officers arrested two teens—a 15-year-old male and a 15-year-old female, both from Hyattsville, Maryland. They were charged with unarmed carjacking. Coristine’s iPhone 16, worth $1,000, was stolen.
A photo of Coristine, his face bloodied and swollen, was shared by a friend, Marko Elez, a former DOGE software engineer who left after being caught in a racism scandal.
Elez wrote: “My friend Big Balls is a hero. I took this photo after Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by eight thugs near Dupont Circle.”
“Violence like this in the heart of D.C. is completely unacceptable.”
Elon Musk also commented, though didn’t name Coristine directly.
“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in D.C.,” Musk posted on X. “A Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize D.C.”
Coristine became known online for changing his LinkedIn name to “Big Balls,” which caught Musk’s attention and led to his brief stint in government. After Musk stepped down in June, Coristine left DOGE and quickly found work at Social Security.
Trump has used the attack to push his law-and-order message, warning the situation in the capital won’t be tolerated much longer.
