President Trump on Monday announced he was taking federal control of the Washington, D.C., police department and deploying the National Guard in the national guard in an effort to crack down on crime.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going ot let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it,” Trump said.
Under the Home Rule Act, Trump can temporarily take control of the district’s police department if he determines “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.”
“This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re gonna take our capital back,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He later said he would ask the interim commissioner of the DEA to lead the local police force.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going ot let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it,” Trump said.
Trump was joined for Monday’s announcement by Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro.
The troops would likely be pulled from the DC National Guard, although the decision about sending National Guard troops is not final, a U.S. official told Fox News.
Federal agents have deployed to DC streets in recent days, including officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Trump said on social media on Sunday that the news conference on crime and “beautification” will “not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital.”
“Washington, D.C. will be LIBERATED today!,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR. I will, MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN! The days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER! I quickly fixed the Border (ZERO ILLEGALS in last 3 months!), D.C. is next!!!”
Trump described D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser – who publicly clashed with Trump during the George Floyd riots in 2020 – “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive.”
“The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer,” the president wrote. “Just like I took care of the Border, where you had ZERO Illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again. Thank you for your attention to this matter — See you tomorrow at 10 A.M.!”
The president has reignited his warnings about a federal government takeover of Washington, and said he may even deploy the National Guard over recent crime.
Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday that “it is always the president’s prerogative to use federal law enforcement of the National Guard.”
On Sunday, police instituted a juvenile curfew in the popular Navy Yard neighborhood, after a stolen gun was discharged during a large gathering of young people late on Saturday. The incident came even as the White House had deployed a surge of federal law enforcement officers in the city over the weekend.
Trump also said the homeless population would have to move “immediately,” posting photos of encampments and trash on the streets.
“There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY,’” Trump posted. “We want our Capital BACK.”
Last week, Trump teased taking federal control of D.C. after former Department of Government Efficiency employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was brutally beaten during an attempted carjacking by teenage suspects.
