Trump says he's placing Washington police under federal control, deploying National Guard
The Republican president, who said he was formally declaring a public safety emergency, compared crime in the American capital with that in other major cities, saying Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil and Colombia, among others.
Mr. Trump also said at his news briefing that his administration has started removing homeless encampments 'from all over our parks, our beautiful, beautiful parks.' 'We're getting rid of the slums, too,' Mr. Trump said, adding that the U.S. would not lose its cities and that Washington was just a start.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will be taking over responsibility for Washington's metro police department, he said, while also complaining about potholes and graffiti in the city and calling them 'embarrassing.'
For Mr. Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects a next step in his law enforcement agenda after his aggressive push to stop illegal border crossings. But the move involves at least 500 federal law enforcement officials as well as the National Guard, raising fundamental questions about how an increasingly emboldened federal government will interact with its state and local counterparts.
Combating crime
The president has used his social media and White House megaphones to message that his administration is tough on crime, yet his ability to shape policy might be limited outside of Washington, which has a unique status as a congressionally established federal district. Nor is it clear how his push would address the root causes of homelessness and crime.
Mr. Trump said he is invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to deploy members of the National Guard.
About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation's capital as part of the Mr. Trump administration's effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday (August 11, 2025).
More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are also contributing officers.
The person was not authorised to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn't immediately have a comment Monday (August 11, 2025) morning.
The National Guard
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.
Ms. Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.
'I just think that's not the most efficient use of our Guard,' she said Sunday (August 10, 2025) on MSNBC's 'The Weekend,' acknowledging it is 'the president's call about how to deploy the Guard.'
Ms. Bowser was making her first public comments since Mr. Trump started posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since a rise in 2023. Mr. Trump's weekend posts depicted the district as 'one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World.'
For Ms. Bowser, 'Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.'
Focusing on homelessness
Mr. Trump in a Sunday (August 10, 2025) social media post had emphasised the removal of Washington's homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go.
'The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,' Mr. Trump wrote Sunday (August 10, 2025). 'We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong.'
Last week, the Republican president directed federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option 'to extend as needed.'
On Friday (August 8, 2025) night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than 120 officers and agents to assist in Washington.
Mr. Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was 'ridiculous' and the city was 'unsafe,' after the recent assault of a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency.
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