Liberals Claim D.C. Carjacking of Former DOGE Employee Was Staged to Help Trump Take Control of Washington
What happened: Liberal social media users are baselessly accusing the Trump administration of staging a violent carjacking incident involving a former DOGE employee, claiming that Trump is looking to build support for a federal takeover of Washington.
Context: On Aug. 3, former DOGE worker Edward Coristine, who generated considerable publicity during his DOGE tenure and who is widely known online as “Big Balls,” was assaulted in an attempted carjacking in D.C., according to news reports and a police statement.
Coristine, then 19, was one of Elon Musk’s earliest hires when Musk was tapped by Trump to oversee efforts to reduce the federal government in January 2025, Wired reported. Coristine left DOGE in June 2025 and is now working at the Social Security Administration, according to NBC News.
Two days after the attempted carjacking, Trump posted about the incident on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, “Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control… If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this city. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A closer look: Hours after Trump’s post on Truth Social, liberal social media users claimed that the Trump administration orchestrated the carjacking incident to gain support for a federal takeover of D.C., an idea that Trump has floated previously.
Liberal Threads user @corbin.somewhere posted on Aug. 6, “In my opinion: The Big Balls (DOGE) attack was clearly staged in order to give the Trump administration authoritarian control over D.C. — the whole thing was too perfect.” The post received 4,500 views and 45 likes in one day.
Anti-Trump Threads user @jr._johnpatrick posted on Aug. 6: “If he was beaten ‘mercilessly,’ he wouldn’t still be alive… This is FAKE AND STAGED. RELEASE ALL THE UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES.” The post garnered 6,600 views and 390 likes in one day.
Actually: There is no evidence that the carjacking was orchestrated by Trump.
A statement released by the D.C. police department on Aug. 5 said that in the early morning of Aug. 3, two victims were approached by suspects who allegedly demanded access to their vehicle, and then allegedly assaulted one of the victims. The police statement added that two 15-year-olds from Maryland were arrested and charged with unarmed carjacking. The New York Times reported that 10 young assailants were involved in the attack and that police said they were seeking additional suspects.
An image reported by various news outlets shows Coristine, one of the alleged victims, sitting on a street curb covered in blood following the incident.
Although Trump commented on the incident on social media, there is no evidence connecting him or any political actors to the crime.
A NewsGuard review of news reports, the police statement, and photos of the incident found no indications that the carjacking was staged.
Asked about the claim, a spokesperson for the White House pointed to Trump’s previously noted Truth Social post, but did not otherwise comment in an email to NewsGuard. The Metropolitan Police Department and Coristine did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
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