BBC Information, Washington DC
President Donald Trump has deployed the Nationwide Guard to Washington DC and brought management of town’s police drive as he pledges to crack down on crime and homelessness within the nation’s capital.
Trump declared a “public security emergency” on Monday, deploying 800 Nationwide Guard troops who will bolster tons of of federal regulation enforcement officers who had been deployed over the weekend.
“It is changing into a scenario of full and whole lawlessness,” he instructed reporters on the White Home.
The town’s Mayor Muriel Bowser has rejected the president’s claims about crime, and whereas there was a spike in 2023, statistics present it has fallen since then. Violent crime within the metropolis can be at a 30-year low.
“I am saying a historic motion to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump mentioned throughout a information convention through which he was flanked by US Lawyer Common Pam Bondi, who will lead town’s police drive whereas it’s underneath federal management.
“That is liberation day in DC, and we will take our capital again,” he mentioned.
Trump mentioned Washington DC had been “taken over by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals” in addition to “drugged out maniacs and homeless individuals”.
In response to knowledge from town’s Metropolitan Police Division, homicides dropped by 32 % between 2023 and 2024 and reached their lowest stage since 2019.
There was one other substantial drop this yr of 12 %, the info reveals.
Mayor Bowser, a Democrat, acknowledged there had been a “horrible” spike in crime in 2023, which mirrored a nationwide pattern, however she pushed again towards any claims of a crimewave within the metropolis.
“We aren’t experiencing against the law spike,” she instructed MSNBC on Sunday. “The president may be very conscious of our efforts.”
When requested about White Home Deputy Chief of Workers Stephen Miller’s remark that Washington is extra violent than Baghdad, Bowser mentioned “any comparability to a war-torn nation is hyperbolic and false”.
Of the 800 Nationwide Guard troops who might be activated, between 100-200 might be deployed and supporting regulation enforcement at any given time, the military mentioned in an announcement.
In addition to that deployment, Trump mentioned he would place town’s police division underneath direct federal management utilizing the District of Columbia Dwelling Rule Act.
That act was instituted by former President Richard Nixon to permit residents of Washington DC – which is the one US metropolis that’s not in any of the 50 states – to elect a metropolis council and a mayor.
However it additionally has a caveat that enables the president to take management of town’s police drive if “particular situations of an emergency nature exist”.
If the president intends to take management for longer than 48 hours, they should present a written discover to Congress. And even when that discover is offered, they can not hold management of the police for longer than 30 days.
On Sunday, when requested about the potential of the president taking management of town’s police division, Mayor Bowser mentioned: “There are very particular issues in our regulation that may permit [that]. None of these situations exist in our metropolis proper now.”
She mentioned she was “involved” concerning the Nationwide Guard implementing native legal guidelines.
Bowser gave a information convention in a while Monday through which she mentioned the president’s order was “unsettling and unprecedented”.
She mentioned Trump’s view of town had been “formed by his Covid-view expertise throughout his first time period”, which she acknowledged was “difficult occasions” for the district.
“It is true we skilled against the law spike post-Covid,” she mentioned.
“We labored rapidly to place legal guidelines in place that bought violent offenders off our streets,” she added. “Now we have seen an enormous lower in crime due to these efforts.”
In addition to crime, Trump additionally spoke at size about homelessness in Washington DC.
“We’re eliminating the slums,” he mentioned, with out giving additional particulars. He mentioned homeless individuals could be despatched elsewhere however didn’t say the place.
Trump added that “every little thing ought to be excellent” when dignitaries and international leaders go to town.
“It is a very robust reflection of our nation,” he mentioned. “If our capital is soiled, our complete nation is soiled and so they do not respect us.”
Native teams working with homeless individuals within the capital instructed the BBC that they had really seen progress in recent times.
Homelessness is down virtually 20% for people in Washington DC in 2025 in comparison with 5 years in the past, mentioned Ralph Boyd, the president and chief government of So Others May Eat (SOME) – a bunch that gives individuals within the metropolis with housing, clothes and different social companies.
He additionally mentioned Trump’s proposal to maneuver individuals out of town was not a long-term resolution.
“All it’ll do is switch the issue some other place into communities which are maybe much less geared up to cope with it than we’re,” Boyd mentioned.
In the meantime, outdoors the White Home, protesters involved about Trump’s actions gathered and chanted “fingers off DC” and “shield house rule”.
“Trump doesn’t care about DC’s security, he cares about management,” a speaker on the occasion mentioned.
The president’s actions comply with a collection of social media posts in latest days through which he has criticised the working of Washington DC. Trump has lengthy complained concerning the metropolis’s Democratic management for his or her dealing with of crime and homelessness.
He has additionally responded angrily to a former worker of the Division of Authorities Effectivity (Doge) who was attacked lately in within the metropolis.
Throughout Monday’s press convention, Trump mentioned the worker was “savagely overwhelmed by a band of roaming thugs” and was “left dripping in blood”.
He additionally talked about different federal authorities staff and elected officers who’ve been attacked, together with a Democratic lawmaker and an intern.
“It is a menace to America,” Trump mentioned.
The primary time Trump deployed the Nationwide Guard was in June, when he ordered 2,000 Nationwide Guardsmen to Los Angeles to cope with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.
The final time the Nationwide Guard was deployed to Washington DC was in response to the Capitol riot in 2021.
With further reporting from Madeline Halpert
