President Donald Trump is increasing the presence of federal law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C., in what the White House described as an effort to “make D.C. safe again,” even as data show that violent crime in the nation’s capital is down significantly.
The White House on Thursday announced the deployment of federal officers for at least a week, saying after seven days it may “extend” the operation “as needed.”
“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to news outlets. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”
The move came after Trump decried what he called “totally out of control” crime in D.C. and threatened to federalize the city, following news that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer was assaulted during an attempted carjacking.
“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” the President said to reporters earlier this week. “We have to run D.C.”
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According to city police data last updated Friday, however, violent crime in D.C. is down by 26% so far this year compared to 2024. And in January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said that, last year, total violent crime in D.C. fell to “the lowest it has been in over 30 years.”
D.C., which has a heavily Democratic population and has consistently voted both for Democratic mayors and presidential tickets for decades, has frequently attracted criticism from Trump and other Republican politicians. Some other GOP lawmakers have pushed to establish federal control over the city, which was granted a greater degree of self-governance under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973, but is still subject to congressional oversight and legislative review.
Personnel from various agencies will be involved in the federal law enforcement operation directed by the President, including U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, among others, according to The Associated Press. The increased officer presence will be focused on “high traffic tourist areas,” POLITICO reported.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ Washington Field Division said in a post on X early Friday morning that its agents were “out ensuring that the residents of the District of Columbia are safer this evening,” along with federal law enforcement partners. It mentioned several other federal agency accounts, including from the U.S. Park Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s non-voting representative in Congress, criticized the move to increase federal law enforcement in D.C. in a statement to news outlets.
“Sending in the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security officers and others throughout the District in response to an assault where the existing police presence was sufficient to catch two assailants as they were leaving the scene is a disproportionate overreaction that’s offensive to D.C.,” Norton said. “Moreover, this needless escalation will heighten tensions and potentially make D.C., which achieved its lowest violent crime rate in 30 years in 2024, less safe.”