Donald Trump has deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, seeking to cement his claim to be a “law and order” President with a crackdown that he said could be expanded to other major US cities.
The Republican leader said he would place the capital’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,” the President told reporters at the White House.
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.
The administration says 800 DC National Guardsmen – potentially backed up by other “specialised” Guard units – will be deployed to the city of 700,000.
The move was slammed by Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said the aim was to “further the personal and political agenda of a wannabe king”.
Richard Stengel, a former undersecretary of state in Barack Obama’s administration, pointed out that Washington is not among the most dangerous US cities.
“Throughout history, autocrats use a false pretext to impose government control over local law enforcement as a prelude to a more national takeover,” he posted on X.
“That’s far more dangerous than the situation he says he is fixing.”
As Trump was speaking at the White House, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside.
“There is absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” said 62-year-old retiree Elizabeth Critchley, who brandished a sign with the slogan “DC says freedom not fascism”.
The new approach echoes Trump’s aggressive policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.
The President told reporters he planned to roll out the policy to other cities, spotlighting New York and Chicago.
Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal Government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.
Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city’s budget.
Data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.
Trump posted on social media before the news conference that he also wants to tackle homeless encampments, after signing an order last month making it easier to arrest rough sleepers.
Federal law enforcement have already increased their presence after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was beaten during an attempted carjacking.
“Last week my administration surged 500 federal agents into the district including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the US Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump said.
“You know a lot of nations, they don’t have anything like that... They made dozens of arrests.”
A Gallup poll in October found that 64% of Americans believed crime had risen in 2024, although FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crime nationwide in more than half a century.
Federal law allows Trump to control Washington’s police for 30 days, while a longer period would require authorisation from Congress, which Democrats would likely block.
The city’s Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser has not explicitly criticised Trump over the federal takeover, but she pushed back on White House claims of spiralling crime, noting the recent decrease.
“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised,” she told a news conference.
- Agence France-Presse