President Donald Trump said Monday that he will place Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploy the National Guard, a dramatic step he said is necessary to address crime.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not gonna let it happen anymore. We’re not gonna take it,” Trump said in a press conference at the White House.
Trump has consistently expressed dissatisfaction with the way Washington is run by local leadership, citing levels of crime and youth violence. Declaring a “crime emergency” and bringing in the National Guard is his latest step to crack down on a blue city — he hinted he could take similar steps elsewhere in the future.
“Other cities are hopefully watching this … and maybe they’ll self-clean up, and maybe they’ll self-get rid of the cashless bail thing and all the things that cause problems,” Trump said, suggesting the administration would be “taking a look” at other cities like New York City and Chicago if they “don’t learn their lesson” and study the actions Trump is taking in Washington.
City officials have pointed out that violent crime dropped last year after a spike in 2023. It was at its lowest levels in more than 30 years, according to data released by the Department of Justice in January.
It’s unclear how long the takeover will last. Trump said in a memo that National Guard troops will remain until he determines “that conditions of law and order have been restored in the District of Columbia.”
He predicted it wouldn’t take long: “Fixing the crime is easy.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Terrance Cole, whom Trump appointed to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency, would be overseeing MPD. Gadyaces Serralta, appointed by Trump as director of the United States Marshals Service, will supervise command and control of the operation.
In addition to focusing on crime, the president said the administration would also address homelessness and drug use, as well as efforts to “beautify” the city.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said that she was intent on changing the law to be tougher on youth offenders.
“I 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,” Pirro said. “They know that we can’t touch them. Why? Because the laws are weak. I can’t touch you if you’re 14, 15, 16 years old and you have a gun.”
While youth in Washington commit a disproportionate amount of the city’s crime compared to other cities, The Washington Post reported that fewer youth arrests have been made this year compared to the same time last year.
Last week, Trump called for the city to prosecute teens as young as 14 as adults after Edward Coristine, a high-profile former DOGE staffer who also goes by “Big Balls,” and his significant other were assaulted. Two teens have been arrested in connection with the crime.
In recent weeks, local police have increased their presence and law enforcement in response to pressure from the White House. Mayor Muriel Bowser refuted that crime in Washington has spiked and that this kind of response from the president is necessary.
“If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here. But it won’t be because there’s a spike in crime,” Bowser said on MSNBC Sunday.
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act gives Washington residents the right to elect their own local governance. But Congress approves all Washington laws, exerting a significant amount of control.
The president said he plans to push Congress to enact policy changes including repealing the city’s cashless bail, which allows some people charged with a crime to be released without payment while awaiting trial. Critics of cashless bail say it leads to release of dangerous individuals; however, an analysis of crime data by the Brennan Center found no statistically significant relationship between crime rates and changes to bail policy.
This is the second time in Trump’s second term that he has deployed the National Guard against the will of local leaders. Court proceedings begin Monday in a case to decide whether Trump violated the law by using federal troops to address unrest in Los Angeles earlier this year.