US President Donald Trump deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, as he seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to be a “law and order” president.
The Republican leader said he would place the city’s Metropolitan Police under federal government control while also sending the National Guard onto the streets of the US capital.
The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offenses are down.
“This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said.
Trump — a convicted felon who granted blanket clemency to nearly 1,600 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren’t tough enough.
He said 800 DC National Guardsmen — “and much more if necessary” — would be deployed to the city of 700,000.
As Trump was speaking at the White House, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside.
“There is absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” said 62-year-old retiree Elizabeth Critchley, who brandished a sign with the slogan “DC says freedom not fascism.”
“It’s all for show. It’s just a big theater,” she said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was among several cabinet officials flanking Trump, said “other specialized” National Guard units could also be deployed.
“They will be strong, they will be tough, and they will stand with their law enforcement partners,” he said.
The new approach echoes Trump’s immigration policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.
