President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he is federalizing Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploying roughly 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, a move he framed as a decisive step to combat crime but which comes amid federal data showing a sharp drop in violent offenses.
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Trump declared a public safety emergency in the district and said Attorney General Pam Bondi would “take command” of the city’s police force effective immediately. “When you walk down the street, you’re going to see police or you’re going to see FBI agents,” Trump said during remarks at the White House. “We’re going to have a lot of agents on the street. You’re going to have a lot of, essentially, military. And we will bring in the military if it’s needed.”
Bondi echoed the president’s promise of swift action. “Let me be crystal clear: Crime in D.C. is ending and ending today,” she said.
The D.C. Home Rule Act allows the president to take temporary control of the city’s police for up to 30 days without congressional approval, after which an extension would require lawmakers’ consent. Trump said he would make the “appropriate” notifications to Congress and the mayor’s office within the required 48 hours.
The president’s announcement escalates an already heightened federal law enforcement presence in the city. Over the weekend, about 450 federal officers were deployed across D.C., which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called “a first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets.”
Trump’s moves come despite official statistics showing crime at historic lows. According to D.C. police data, violent crime in the city has dropped 26% compared to last year. In January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the district’s 2024 violent crime rate was the lowest in three decades.
Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected the premise of Trump’s intervention. “If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here,” Bowser said on MSNBC. “But it won’t be because there’s a spike in crime.”
In recent days, Trump has railed against homelessness and high-profile incidents, including an alleged attempted carjacking involving a former administration aide known online as “Big Balls.” On Truth Social Monday morning, the president proclaimed “liberation day in D.C.,” vowing that “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR.”
Trump has signaled broader ambitions for federal control over the capital, which would require repealing the 1973 Home Rule Act that granted D.C. a measure of self-governance. In March, he signed an executive order to make the city “safe and beautiful,” establishing a federal task force to work on safety initiatives with local officials.
