BBC News, Washington DC
President Donald Trump said that he was deploying the National Guard at Washington DC and controlling the police force of the city as he had promised to tighten the crime and homeless in the city.
Trump declared a “public safety emergency” on Monday, deploying 800 National Guard soldiers, which would postpone hundreds of federal law enforcement officers, who were deployed over the weekend.
“This is a complete and total iniquity situation,” he told reporters at the White House.
The city’s mayor Muril Boussar has rejected the President’s claims about the crime, and when there was a spike in 2023, the statistics suggests that it has fallen since then. Violent crime in the city is also at a 30 -year low.
Trump said during a news conference, “I am announcing a historical action to protect the capital of my country from crime, bloodshed, bed and squall,” Trump said during a press conference that he was flanks by American Attorney General Palm Bandy, which would lead the police force of the city under federal control.
“This is DC in DC, and we are going to withdraw our capital,” he said.
Trump said Washington DC was “taken” by violent gangs and blood criminals as well as “drugs and homeless people intoxicated”.
According to data from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department, housewives declined by 32% between 2023 and 2024 and reached their lowest level since 2019.
This year there has been another sufficient decline of 12%, showing data.
Mayor Boussar, a Democrat, admitted that in 2023 there was a “terrible” spike in the crime that reflected a national trend, but pushed back against any claim of a crimewave in the city.
“We are not experiencing a crime spike,” he told MSNBC on Sunday. “The President knows a lot about our efforts.”
Asked about the remarks of the White House Deputy Chief Staff Stephen Miller that Washington is more violent than Baghdad, Boseer said “comparison to the war -torn country is somehow hyperbolic and wrong”.
The army said in a statement that out of 800 National Guard soldiers who would become active, 100-200 will be deployed and law enforcement would be supported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the National Guardman will reach the end of the week.
At the same time, that purification, Trump said that he would keep the police department of the city under direct federal control using the district of the Columbia Home Rules Act.
The Act was established by former President Richard Nixon to allow the residents of Washington DC – the only American city that is not in any of the 50 states – to choose a city council and a mayor.
But it also has a warning that allows the President to control the police force of the city if “special status of emergency nature exists”.
If the President wants to control control for more than 48 hours, he needs to provide a written notice to the Congress. And even if that notice is provided, they cannot control the police for more than 30 days.
On Sunday, when asked about the possibility of controlling the police department of the city by the President, Mayor Boseer said: “Our law has very special things that will allow. [that]None of those situations exist in our city yet. ,
She said that she was “worried” about the National Guard that enforced local laws.
Bausar later held a news conference on Monday stating that the President’s order was “uncertain and unprecedented”.
He said that Trump’s approach to the city was “shaped by his covid-verse experience during his first term”, which he admitted that it was “challenging time” for the district.
“It is true that we experienced a crime spike post-cool,” he said.
“We worked quickly to enact laws to violent criminals on our streets,” he said. “We have seen a huge decrease in crime due to those efforts.”
Along with the crime, Trump also talked about being homeless in Washington DC.
“We are getting rid of slums,” he said, without giving more information. He said that the homeless people will be sent elsewhere, but did not say where.
Trump said that “everything should be right” when dignitaries and foreign leaders visit the city.
“This is a very strong reflection of our country,” he said. “If our capital is dirty, then our entire country is dirty and they do not respect us.”
Local groups working with homeless people in the capital told the BBC that they had actually seen progress in recent years.
Washington DC’s homeless for individuals in 2025 compared to five years ago is about 20% lower, the chairman and chief executive officer of other people Ralph Boyd said (some) – a group that provides people in the city with housing, clothes and other social services.
He also said that the proposal to take the people of Trump out of the city was not a long -term solution.
Boyd said, “It will do everything that will transfer the problem to communities elsewhere that is probably less equipped to deal with it.”
Meanwhile, outside the White House, concerned protesters about Trump’s functions “DC of DC” and “protecting” home rules.
“Trump does not care about DC’s safety, he cares about control,” said a speaker of the incident.
The President’s works have followed a series of social media posts in recent times in which he has criticized the running of Washington DC. Trump has long complained about the city’s democratic leadership to deal with crime and homeless.
He has also expressed concern for a former employee of the government’s efficiency department, who was attacked in the city last week.
During Monday’s press conference, Trump said that the employee was “beaten badly by a band of wandering thugs” and left “dripping into the blood”.
He also mentioned other federal government employees and elected officials who are attacked, including a Democratic MP and a trainee.
“This is a threat to America,” said Trump.
Trump first deployed the National Guard in June, when he ordered 2,000 National Guardmans in Los Angeles to deal with unrest on the raid on unwarded migrants.
The last time the National Guard was posted at Washington DC, in 2021 in response to a capital riot.
With additional reporting from Medaline Helper
