President Donald Trump announced Monday he was putting the Washington, D.C. police department under federal control and deploying National Guard on the streets of the nation’s capitol, a striking move taken over the objections of local leaders, who say Trump is exaggerating the city’s crime problems.
Trump said he was invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which gives the President of the United States the authority to commandeer DC’s Police Department in “conditions of an emergency nature.” Attorney General Pam Bondi is now in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department, he said.
“It’s time for dramatic action,” Trump said at a press conference.
Data show that violent crime in the nation’s capital is down significantly from a peak in 2023. But Trump paints a different picture. Trump described Washington as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World” in a post on Truth Social Saturday. On Sunday, Trump wrote, “I’m going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before. The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
In recent days, Trump has deployed federal officers from the U.S. Park Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Marshals Service on night patrols in D.C., according to ATF’s X account. On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested “other””” specialized units will be deployed in Washington, D.C., at Trump’s direction.
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. is a rare use of military forces on U.S. soil and a potential violation of the Posse Comitatus Act that restricts the military from being used as a police force for domestic law enforcement. During racial justice protests in June 2020, Trump sent uniformed National Guard troops to Lafayette Park in front of the White House to help clear the park of protestors. Earlier this summer, Trump ordered the California National Guard to the Los Angeles area to quell immigration protests.
Read more: The Secret Presidential Crisis Powers Trump Could Deploy in a Second Term
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, said on MSNBC on Sunday that Trump’s statements comparing the capital to a “war-torn country” are “hyperbolic and false.” According to city police data, violent crime in D.C. is down by 26% so far in 2025 compared to the year before.
Trump’s focus on public safety in the capital comes after former U.S. DOGE Service software engineer Edward Coristine, who is known by the nickname “Big Balls,” was injured during an alleged carjacking in DC early in the morning on Aug. 3.