WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday announced he will deploy approximately 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and federalize the city’s police in an effort to fight crime.
The moves mark a significant escalation in the president’s attacks on the nation’s capital. Trump on Sunday claimed the district was “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World,” although the Justice Department said that the crime rate fell to a 30-year-low last year.
The president also said that he would declare a public safety emergency in D.C. and that Attorney General Pam Bondi would “take command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment.”
“When you walk down the street, you’re going to see police or you’re going to see FBI agents,” Trump said during a press availability Monday morning. “We’re going to have a lot of agents on the street. You’re going to have a lot of, essentially military. And we will bring in the military if it’s needed.”
NBC News previously reported that Trump was considering ordering the National Guard into the district. He announced that around 800 National Guard troops would be deployed, but said he would send “much more if necessary.”
Bondi, who Trump said will helm D.C. police, declared that crime would end in D.C.
“Let me be crystal clear: Crime in D.C. is ending and ending today,” she said.
Trump must notify certain members of Congress within 48 hours about the reason for taking over control of police and the estimated timeline for federal control, according to the D.C. Home Rule Act. Trump said he would make the “appropriate” notifications to Congress and the mayor’s office.
The act also indicates that Trump can take control of the D.C. police for 30 days, unless Congress authorizes an extension.
Ahead of the announcement, Trump on Sunday railed against homelessness in the city. Trump on Monday said that the administration would remove homeless encampments.
Trump’s announcements come after the White House increased the federal law enforcement presence in D.C., which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had framed as a “first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, DC.”
About 450 federal law enforcement officers were deployed across D.C. on Saturday and Sunday evenings, according to a White House official.
Last week, Trump renewed his criticism of D.C. following an alleged assault on Edward Coristine, an original Department of Government Efficiency aide known online as “Big Balls,” in an attempted carjacking.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social last week.
D.C. police data indicates that violent crime has decreased 26% compared to last year. The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced in January that violent crime in the district in 2024 was at a 30-year low, citing police data.
Trump has the authority to temporarily take control of the local police. For the president to mount a full federal takeover of the city, however, Congress would first need to repeal the 1973 Home Rule Act, which granted D.C. a level of self-governance.
In an interview on MSNBC Sunday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back on the assertion that D.C. is riddled with crime.
“If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know [Trump] can do that here, but it won’t be because there’s a spike in crime,” she said.
On Monday morning, Trump also proclaimed “liberation day in D.C.” in an all-capitalized post to Truth Social.
“Washington, D.C. will be LIBERATED today!” he said in a separate post Monday morning. “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR.”
Trump signed an executive order in March to make D.C. “safe and beautiful,” establishing a task force to work with local officials on safety issues, such as by increasing the federal law enforcement presence in the city.