United States President Donald Trump has introduced that he’s briefly taking control of the Washington, DC, police division, whereas deploying 800 Nationwide Guard troops to town.
Trump mentioned his actions are needed to “rescue” the US capital from a surge in crime.
Whereas violent crime spiked in Washington, DC, in 2023, knowledge exhibits it has been falling rapidly since then.
Here’s what we all know:
What has Trump introduced?
Throughout a 78-minute information convention, Trump introduced that the federal authorities would take management of the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan Police Division to deal with surging crime.
“I’m asserting a historic motion to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump mentioned throughout the convention by which he was joined by US Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi, who will oversee town’s police pressure whereas it’s underneath federal management.
“That is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital again. We’re taking it again,” Trump mentioned.
“Below the authorities vested in me because the President of the USA, I’m formally invoking part 740 of the District of Columbia House Rule Act… and inserting the DC Metropolitan and Police Division underneath direct federal management,” he mentioned.
He additionally introduced the deployment of the Nationwide Guard.
“I’m deploying the Nationwide Guard to assist reestablish regulation, order and public security in Washington, DC, they usually’re going to be allowed to do their job correctly,” he mentioned.
Trump additionally mentioned that he intends to take away the capital’s homeless inhabitants, however didn’t present particulars on how the plan can be carried out.
What’s the House Rule Act of 1973?
The House Rule Act of 1973 is a US federal law that gave Washington, DC, a big diploma of self-government for the primary time.
Washington, DC, is the seat of the federal authorities and the one US metropolis that isn’t a part of the 50 states. In consequence, it has no voting illustration in Congress.
For a couple of century, up till 1973, town was run by three presidentially appointed commissioners. That was till then-President Richard Nixon signed the House Rule Act, enabling district residents to elect a mayor and metropolis council.
However the House Rule Act additionally says the president can take management of town’s police pressure if “particular circumstances of an emergency nature exist”.
That is one thing Trump threatened to do in 2020, amid nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd. The town’s police can be utilized for “federal functions”.
The president can use the DC police pressure for 48 hours, or as much as 30 days if he notifies Congress.
Trump mentioned he plans to maintain the federal takeover of the pressure going previous the primary 48 hours, and can formally inform the suitable events.
The mayor of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, is adamant that town nonetheless has management: “Let me be clear. Chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Division, and its 3,100 members work underneath her course.”
“Nothing about our organisational chart has modified,” Bowser mentioned. “And nothing within the government order would point out in any other case.”
In line with a report by the information outlet Politico, federal regulation enforcement officers shall be tasked with defending federal buildings and nationwide monuments.
What do we all know in regards to the Nationwide Guard deployment?
In line with a press release from the US Military, “between 100-200 troopers shall be supporting regulation enforcement at any given time”.
“Their duties will embody an array of duties from administrative, logistics and bodily presence in assist of regulation enforcement,” the military mentioned.
The Nationwide Guard will function underneath Title 32 standing, which means they continue to be underneath native management however are funded by the federal authorities. On this standing, they don’t seem to be sure by the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars US service members from participating in regulation enforcement actions.
US Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth mentioned that the Guard would start flowing into DC this week.
In line with a report by CNN, deployed troops should not anticipated to overtly carry rifles as they patrol the streets. As a substitute, they’ll most likely preserve their weapons close by, for instance, of their vans, to allow them to entry them if needed for self-defence, the official mentioned.
Hegseth mentioned the Pentagon was “ready to herald different Nationwide Guard items – different specialised items”, however didn’t supply any additional particulars.
When requested whether or not the navy would help with clearing homeless individuals from town, Hegseth mentioned that the troopers would help native regulation enforcement.
“Our job is to face alongside regulation enforcement,” he mentioned.
Why is Trump taking these measures?
Within the government order, Trump states that rising violence within the capital has change into an emergency.
The “rising violence within the capital now urgently endangers public servants, residents, and vacationers, disrupts protected and safe transportation and the right functioning of the Federal Authorities”, the order states.
“The magnitude of the violent crime disaster locations the District of Columbia among the many most violent jurisdictions in the USA.”
It additionally says that the lawyer normal shall often replace the president “on the standing of the particular circumstances of an emergency nature that exist within the District of Columbia”.
MAKE D.C. SAFE AGAIN 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xJRIcgy4ld
— The White Home (@WhiteHouse) August 11, 2025
In line with studies, the transfer appears to have been triggered by an assault involving Edward Coristine, a former Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) staffer and protege of Elon Musk, who beforehand led DOGE. Police say 10 youngsters attacked the 19-year-old and his accomplice early on August 3. Two 15-year-olds had been later arrested and charged.
“If DC doesn’t get its act collectively, and rapidly, we could have no alternative however to take Federal management of the Metropolis, and run this Metropolis the way it needs to be run,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Fact Social, days after the assault, with a picture displaying a shirtless Coristine with what seemed to be blood spattered on his face, physique and trousers.
“Maybe it ought to have been carried out a very long time in the past, then this unimaginable younger man, and so many others, wouldn’t have needed to undergo the horrors of Violent Crime,” Trump added.
Is DC really going through a criminal offense emergency?
The mayor of Washington, DC, Bowser, questioned the effectiveness of deploying the Nationwide Guard to implement native legal guidelines, saying that extra funding for prosecutors would make a extra significant distinction.
At a information convention on Monday, the mayor mentioned that Trump’s notion of town was “formed by his COVID-view expertise throughout his first time period”.
“It’s true that these had been tougher instances associated to some points. It is usually true that we skilled a criminal offense spike post-COVID, however we labored rapidly to place legal guidelines in place and ways that received violent offenders off our streets, and gave our law enforcement officials extra instruments,” she mentioned.
In line with Bowser, violent crime is now at a 30-year low in Washington, DC.
Washington, DC’s crime numbers have been questioned after authorities started investigating claims that some figures had been modified to make the state of affairs look higher.
However Bowser has stood by the information and mentioned that Trump’s image of DC as lawless is mistaken.
In January, the Division of Justice reported that violent crime within the nation’s capital fell 35 percent from 2023 to 2024.
Official crime statistics from the DC Metropolitan Police Division present that violent offences declined between 2023 and 2024, and preliminary 2025 knowledge point out the trend is continuing.
The info for this yr exhibits that homicides have fallen by 12 p.c, and assaults with harmful weapons by 20 p.c.
The FBI, nevertheless, reported that nationwide violent crime additionally fell, by an estimated 4.5 percent in 2024, in contrast with 2023.
