Trump deploys National Guard in Washington crime crackdown
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President Donald Trump has announced that he was deploying National Guard troops and putting the Washington police force under federal control to tackle crime in the US capital. Photo / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP
Donald Trump has deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, as he seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to be a 'law and order' President.
The Republican leader said he would place the city's Metropolitan Police under federal Government control while also sending the National Guard on to the streets of the US capital.
The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged – although violent offences are down.
'This is Liberation Day in DC, and we're going to take our capital back,' Trump said.
Trump – a convicted felon who granted blanket clemency to nearly 1600 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington – has complained that local police and prosecutors aren't tough enough.
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