President Donald Trump on Monday placed the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deployed 800 National Guard troops in the capital city to address what he claimed was out-of-control crime there.
It is the first time that a president has federalized the Metropolitan Police Department. Trump’s move drew fierce condemnation from local officials, who noted that official statistics show crime in D.C. is on the decline.
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse,” Trump said at the start of a news conference at the White House.
“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capitol back,” he said.
Of the roughly 800 National Guard members Trump ordered to D.C., about 100 to 200 will be aiding law enforcement at any given time for “administrative, logistics and physical presence,” NBC News reported.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb called Trump’s actions “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” and signaled his office will take action to challenge the administration.
“There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia. Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year,” Schwalb said in an X post.
“We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents,” he said.
Trump’s federalization of the city’s police force relies on his authority under Section 740 of the district’s Home Rule Act, the decades-old law that established Washington’s local government.
That section gives a president the power to order the district’s mayor to temporarily hand over control of the Metropolitan Police force if the president determines that “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.”
The emergency control is set to expire after a maximum of 30 days, according to the statute. That can be extended, but only if Congress passes a law authorizing it.
Although Trump has frequently complained about crime in the district, violent crime there has fallen to a 30-year low as of January, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press about deploying federal law enforcement agents in Washington to bolster the local police presence, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Statistics from the Metropolitan Police Department also show that incidences of homicide, sexual abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon, robbery, and overall violent crime have dropped by double-digit percentages so far this year.
Federal law enforcement presence in D.C. has nevertheless increased in recent days.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who is the District of Columbia’s nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives, called Trump’s actions “an historic assault on D.C. home rule,” and a “counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.’s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents.”
“The administration is justifying the decision by misleadingly citing years-old statistics,” Norton said.
Soldiers from the U.S. Army National Guard 42nd Infantry Division walk through streets in Washington, D.C. on June 13, 2025 ahead of a parade and festival the following day celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
Bryan Dozier | Afp | Getty Images
Trump, who had recently threatened to place Washington under federal control, said Monday morning that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is “taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment.”
He also said that he will deploy the National Guard to “help reestablish law order and public safety in Washington, D.C., and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”
Trump added, “You’re going to have a lot of essentially military, and we will bring in the military if it’s needed.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s actions.
She had previously pushed back on Trump’s characterization of her city.
“People are coming to our capital. They’re starting business in our capital, and they’re raising families in our capital. Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,” Bowser said Sunday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”
Trump had teased his announcement on social media in the days leading up to the presser.
“Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR. I will, MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Monday.
On Sunday, he declared that “the Homeless” in D.C. will “have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” while assuring that the government “will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
The Trump administration has disputed that crime in D.C. is dropping. White House communications director Steven Cheung on Monday morning pointed to a police union’s reported accusation that crime statistics in D.C. have been manipulated.
Trump’s complaints about crime in D.C. ramped up after reports that Edward Coristine, one of the initial staffers on the White House’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, was assaulted there earlier this month.
The Trump administration deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles in June to address civil unrest over federal immigration enforcement operations in the city.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sued the administration, arguing that Trump’s actions were unconstitutional.
A trial on the suit in California federal court began Monday.
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