WASHINGTON (BN24) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is placing Washington, D.C.’s police department under federal control and activating 800 National Guard members, declaring a public safety emergency despite city officials pointing to steep drops in crime.
Flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Trump said his administration would oversee the Metropolitan Police Department, remove homeless encampments, and target what he described as “slums” in the nation’s capital.
“We’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said at the White House, adding that federal officers would begin patrolling the city immediately. He invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to authorize the move, which is limited to 30 days unless extended by Congress.
The action represents a significant escalation in Trump’s tough-on-crime agenda, made possible by the unique federal status of the District of Columbia. It also comes despite official statistics showing that violent crime in the city is down 26% compared with this time last year, following historic lows in 2024.
Local leaders quickly denounced the intervention. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb called the move “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” while Mayor Muriel Bowser accused Trump of exploiting the city’s governance structure to advance a political agenda. “None of those conditions exist in our city right now,” Bowser said, emphasizing that crime is trending downward.
Trump’s plan includes deploying about 500 federal law enforcement officers alongside National Guard troops. More than 100 FBI agents, 40 ATF agents, and personnel from the DEA, ICE, and U.S. Marshals Service will be assigned to the city, according to a person familiar with the operation.
The president also pledged to remove Washington’s homeless population, writing on social media that people would be relocated “FAR from the Capital.” Advocates condemned the plan as punitive and ineffective. Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center called it “fascist” and “a waste of resources.”
Despite his focus on law and order, Trump has faced criticism for pardoning or commuting the sentences of more than 1,500 people involved in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, including those convicted of assaulting police officers.
Trump said his legal team is also reviewing whether to seek a repeal of the District’s Home Rule Act, which grants local governance to the city. Bowser, meanwhile, argued the episode underscores the need for Washington, D.C., to become a state, which would shield it from such unilateral federal actions.
