President Donald Trump has executed one of the most aggressive public safety moves in modern Washington history, federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department and sending 800 National Guard troops into the streets of the nation\u2019s capital. Declaring what he called \u201cLiberation Day in DC,\u201d Trump said the action was necessary to rescue the city from \u201ccrime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking from the White House briefing room, Trump described the move as \u201ca historic action to rescue our nation\u2019s capital,\u201d claiming the city had been \u201covertaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.\u201d He invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take control of the city\u2019s police department for up to 30 days in response to \u201cspecial conditions\u201d deemed an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The takeover places the Metropolitan Police under the authority of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the deployment of 800 National Guard troops would be operational \u201cin the coming week\u201d and could expand. \u201cThey will be strong, they will be tough, and they will stand with their law enforcement partners,\u201d Hegseth told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump insisted that police under federal control would be able to \u201cdo whatever the hell they want\u201d when confronted by offenders. \u201cThat\u2019s the only language they understand. They like to spit in the face of the police. You spit, and we hit, and they get hit real hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The president\u2019s decision came after the alleged beating of Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old software engineer and prominent member of Trump\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, known by the nickname \u201cBig Balls.\u201d The assault took place earlier this month near Logan Circle and was followed by a string of high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting of a congressional intern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat a shame,\u201d Trump told reporters in the days before the takeover. \u201cThe rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else, we\u2019re not going to let it [continue], and that includes bringing in the National Guard.\u201d On Truth Social, Trump posted that \u201cthe days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people are OVER!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the president\u2019s view, Washington has become \u201cone of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,\u201d even claiming its murder rate is higher than Bogot\u00e1 or Mexico City. \u201cIf our capital is dirty, our whole country is dirty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump made it clear that Washington could be just the first city to see this kind of intervention. \u201cHopefully LA is watching,\u201d he said, adding that Chicago was also on his radar. White House officials indicated that if the operation produced results in DC, similar takeovers could be considered elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His administration has already reassigned 120 FBI agents in Washington to nighttime patrols, joining federal officers from the Capitol Police, ATF, and Federal Protective Service who were deployed over the weekend. In total, about 450 federal officers were already in the city before the Guard activation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host whom Trump recently appointed as U.S. Attorney for Washington, backed the move in forceful terms. \u201cI see too much violent crime being committed by young punks who think that they can get together in gangs and crews and beat the hell out of you or anyone else,\u201d she said. Pirro criticized what she called excessive leniency toward juveniles. \u201cI can\u2019t arrest them. I can\u2019t prosecute them. They go to family court, and they get to do yoga and arts and crafts. Enough, it changes today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirro is calling for legal changes so more juvenile cases can be prosecuted in adult court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged the president\u2019s legal authority under the Home Rule Act but rejected his portrayal of the city. \u201cAny comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,\u201d she said. Bowser noted that violent crime is down 26 percent this year compared to 2024, assaults with dangerous weapons are down 20 percent, and homicides have dropped by 12 percent. \u201cWe continue to look for ways to make our city safe,\u201d she said, adding that even under federal control, police would still follow \u201cconstitutional policing methods\u201d and city policies like the use of body cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
District Attorney General Brian Schwalb condemned the move as \u201cunprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful,\u201d promising to \u201cdo what\u2019s necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.\u201d Shadow Senator Ankit Jain accused Trump of ignoring real solutions, such as filling judicial vacancies. \u201cWhy has the president not made it a priority to nominate judges?\u201d he asked, warning that he was \u201cincredibly concerned about what he is going to use the police force to do to the people of DC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC\u2019s non-voting representative in Congress, called the takeover \u201ca historic assault on DC home rule\u201d and argued it proved the urgent need for statehood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Representative Jamie Raskin said Trump was \u201csearching for distractions and provocations\u201d to divert attention from his \u201coutrageous refusal to release the Epstein files\u201d and using the city to \u201cexact revenge\u201d on voters who have overwhelmingly opposed him. Al Sharpton labeled the intervention \u201ca disgusting, dangerous, and derogatory action\u201d against a majority-Black city. Civil rights leaders suggested the move was part of an authoritarian playbook designed to consolidate control and intimidate dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protesters gathered near the White House carrying signs such as \u201cFree D.C. No Police State.\u201d Organizer Alex Dodds of the advocacy group Free D.C. said, \u201cIt\u2019s an easy way for them to silence dissent and accelerate their agenda, if they physically control the capital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DC police union, which represents more than 3,000 officers, supported the takeover, citing \u201cviolent crime surges, historic officer shortages, and eroded morale.\u201d However, the union stressed that the measure should remain temporary, with the ultimate goal of building a \u201cfully staffed and supported\u201d local department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the law, the federal control can last only 30 days unless extended by Congress. The operation will expire on September 10 unless lawmakers take action. Congress could, in theory, end the emergency sooner, but with Republicans controlling both chambers, that is unlikely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, the city\u2019s police chief remains in place but answers to federal authorities. Residents will see a significant increase in armed patrols, both from the Guard and from reassigned federal agents. Whether this produces the safer streets Trump has promised\u2014or simply deepens political tensions\u2014will be evident long before the month is over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump has executed one of the most aggressive public safety moves in modern Washington history, federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department and sending 800 National Guard troops into the streets of the nation\u2019s capital. Declaring what he called \u201cLiberation Day in DC,\u201d Trump said the action was necessary to rescue the city from \u201ccrime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse.\u201d A First-of-Its-Kind Federal Takeover Speaking from the White House briefing room, Trump described the move as \u201ca historic action […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,18,21,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-politics","category-threat-to-america","category-trump"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/trumpbowserasdfa.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6388,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386\/revisions\/6388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}