Live updates: Trump news on National Guard being deployed to DC, Putin meeting

CNN

3 hours ago

Update:
Date: 1 min ago
Title: DC attorney general says he doesn't believe the city needs police department takeover
Content:
Washington, DC, doesn't need a federal takeover of the city's Metropolitan Police Department due to 'meaningful, significant drops in crime,' DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said today.
'We do not believe we need this takeover of MPD. Our Home Rule Act provides that while we do have limited authority to govern ourselves, local affairs like local policing are entrusted to our mayor and our chief of police who are doing the job,' Schwalb said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'
Schwalb said violent crime 'is a serious concern' in the city but criticized President Donald Trump's assessment of the level of it.
'Nobody should be a victim of a crime. And we, as public officials, need to do everything we can to drive crime down. And we have done that. Unfortunately, the president's characterizations of what's happening on the ground here in the District of Columbia is not consistent with the facts,' he added.
He also said he's seen 'meaningful, significant drops in crime' since he took office in 2023 and said that 'the work is not done.'
Asked if there are legal steps he is considering to block the president's efforts to take federal control of DC police and deploy the National Guard, Schwalb said he's concerned about the law of the country and the Home Rule Act.
'There are limited authorities of the president in the Home Rule Act. They are limited by circumstance. There must be special circumstances of an emergency. They are limited by time. Those invocations can only occur while there is an emergency in place. And they are limited for purpose,' he said.
Schwalb added that the federal government could help DC by filling judge vacancies.
Update:
Date: 7 min ago
Title: DC councilmember says police takeover is "unprecedented and unnecessary"
Content:
President Donald Trump's takeover of Washington, DC's police department and deployment of the National Guard is 'unprecedented and unnecessary,' according to DC Councilmember Christina Henderson.
'I think we're still trying to understand what exactly the public emergency is and how this will be effectuated over the next 30 days. But the facts remain. This was unprecedented and unnecessary. Violent crime in the district is at a 30-year low. And so we're hopeful that we're able to work in coordination with our federal partners as we have in the past,' she told CNN.
Henderson said while the city needs to do 'more work in terms of recruitment and retention of our officers,' the National Guard is not law enforcement.
'It's always going to be disconcerting when we have military basically guarding the streets of an American city and their own residents,' she said.
The councilmember said that 'no city is perfect' and pointed to other ways to utilize the federal police.
'There's 700,000 people who live here. We're a large urban city that hosts millions of visitors each and every year. I'm not saying that crime is perfect. No city is perfect. But there are other ways for which we could be utilizing our federal partners,' she said.
Henderson said: 'When I hear from our federal partners that we need to do more on crime, I also want to say to them, 'I need you to do more on crime.' I have a 21% vacancy in my DC Superior Court. That's criminal, family, juvenile, all of these cases. And when you don't have swift justice, I believe that is a bigger deterrent than having thousands of police officers and the National Guard on our streets.'
Update:
Date: 14 min ago
Title: DC mayor and Attorney General Bondi are expected to meet today, sources say
Content:
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Attorney General Pam Bondi are meeting today after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation's capital and took control of the city's police, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
The move from Trump has caused a lot of confusion over who will remain in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department and how the president's order will play out on a practical level.
Trump said in a news conference yesterday that Bondi will oversee the implementation of his order with Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole acting as interim commissioner of police.
Hours later, Bowser held her own news conference alongside DC's Chief of Police Pamela Smith. The mayor said nothing had changed as far as leadership structures in DC, adding that Smith would still report to her up through the deputy mayor.
'Nothing about our organizational chart has changed,' Bowser said. 'And nothing in the executive order would indicate otherwise.'
Bowser also told reporters that she was attempting to schedule a meeting with Bondi, and Smith noted she had a meeting set with other federal liaisons last night, which — the Washington Post reported today — was a meeting with Cole.
Update:
Date: 14 min ago
Title: Senior US Army leadership expected to greet DC National Guard personnel as they report for duty
Content:
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and the Vice Chief of the Army are expected to greet DC National Guard personnel as they report for duty at the DC Armory this morning, according to a US Army official.
Roughly 800 DC National Guard soldiers will provide administrative and logistical support as well as physical support to law enforcement during their mobilization in Washington, DC, the Army said in a statement yesterday.
Troops are not expected to openly carry rifles as they patrol the streets, an Army official told CNN.
Update:
Date: 15 min ago
Title: The federal government is taking control of DC's police and deploying the National Guard. Catch up here
Content:
President Donald Trump said yesterday he is placing the Washington, DC, police department 'under direct federal control' and deploying National Guard troops to the nation's capital, citing a public safety emergency following an assault on a former government worker.
Here's what you need to know:
• National Guard activated: Trump activated 800 soldiers from the DC National Guard, with up to 200 members being assigned to supporting law enforcement, according to the Defense Department.
• Crime stats: Trump's announcement comes after the assault of a 19-year-old former Department of Government Efficiency worker during an attempted carjacking on August 3. While Trump has repeatedly criticized what he describes as a surge in violent crime in Washington, overall crime numbers this year are lower than last year.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called the move 'unsettling and unprecedented' during a news conference yesterday, saying she believes Trump's view of DC was 'shaped by his Covid-era experience during his first term' when crime spiked.
• Home Rule Act: Trump's move draws on the sweeping, but temporary powers granted under the Home Rule Act of 1973, a law that balances local self-governance with federal oversight in the capital. While the president can assume control of the police department for up to two days, extending this authority would require congressional notice or a change to the law. This marks the first time in the act's history that a president has assumed control of the city's police force.
• Questions remain: The Metropolitan Police, along with federal agencies tasked with helping curb crime in the nation's capital, are scrambling to figure out roles and strategy following Trump's decision, multiple sources told CNN.
Bowser said she was trying to set up a meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump said would be overseeing the implementation of his order. She also maintained that Chief of Police Pamela Smith would still run the department and report to Bowser up through the deputy mayor.