National Guard sent to D.C., Police Federilized

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President Trump said Monday that he is deploying members of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and that the federal government has taken control of the D.C. police as part of a push to crack down on crime in the nation's capital, despite data showing crime has declined in the city in recent years.

"I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse," Mr. Trump said at a news conference at the White House. "This is liberation day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back."

Flanked by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, Mr. Trump said he was officially enforcing Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department "under direct federal control." He said Bondi was taking control of the department immediately. He also said he was declaring a public safety emergency in the district.

"In addition, I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in D.C., and they're going to be allowed to do their job properly," Mr. Trump said, adding later that about 800 guardsmen would be called up.

Hegseth said the Guard was formally mobilized Monday morning and would be "flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week." In an accompanying executive order, Mr. Trump wrote that the deployment "shall remain in effect until I determine that conditions of law and order have been restored in the District of Columbia."

Violent crime in D.C. has been declining for the last year and a half after spiking in 2023, according to local police data. So far this year, robberies have dropped by 28% and overall violent crime is down 26%, as of Aug. 11. Last year, violent crime in the capital city hit its lowest level in more than 30 years, the Justice Department said.

The president criticized what he called "phony numbers" on crime in D.C., saying the administration would "look into that." And he said the crime issue "directly impacts the functioning of the federal government and is a threat to America, really."

"We have other cities also that are bad. Very bad. You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is," Mr. Trump said. "We're not going to lose our cities over this."

The president said the effort "will go further," saying the administration is "starting very strongly with D.C." and "we're going to clean it up real quick."

"It's becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness," the president added. He called it "embarrassing" for him to be "up here talking about how unsafe and dirty and disgusting this once beautiful capital was," ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The president cited a number of high-profile crimes, including the alleged assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer last week, who the president said was "savagely beaten by a band of roving thugs after defending a young woman from an attempted carjacking." Shortly after the incident, the White House announced that it had boosted the presence of federal law enforcement in the district, as Mr. Trump threatened a federal takeover of the city.

Mr. Trump said a process had begun over the weekend to remove homeless encampments in the district. He noted that the Metropolitan Police Department and federal authorities would be supported by the 800 D.C. National Guardsmen and potentially "much more."

"If necessary, we're going to move servicemembers directly to joining the guardsmen," Mr. Trump said.

In an executive order declaring a crime emergency in the district, the president determined that "special conditions of an emergency nature exist" that require the use of the MPD for federal purposes, including maintaining law and order, protecting federal buildings, monuments and other federal property and ensuring the "conditions necessary for the orderly functioning of the Federal Government." The executive order directs the D.C. mayor to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for federal use "for the maximum period permitted under section 740 of the Home Rule Act."

The law allows the president to require the D.C. mayor to provide "such services of the Metropolitan Police force as the President may deem necessary and appropriate" for a period of 48 hours, a deadline that can be extended by notifying Congress about the takeover and how much longer it is likely to continue. A House Oversight Committee spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that the panel had been notified by the president of the extension beyond 48 hours. The statute says the president can control the police department for up to 30 days, "unless the Senate and the House of Representatives enact into law a joint resolution authorizing such an extension."

The moves come after the administration deployed about 450 federal law enforcement officers from a number of agencies across D.C. overnight Sunday. The president pledged in a social media post Sunday that he would "make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before."

"The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. "We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong. It's all going to happen very fast, just like the Border."

In March, Mr. Trump signed an executive order establishing a "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force." He has said violent crime must be stopped in the District, claiming that it "has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World." D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back on the characterization on MSNBC on Sunday, noting that violent crime is down.

"We are not experiencing a crime spike," Bowser said.

The mayor said she has talked with Mr. Trump "repeatedly" about crime and that "the president is very aware of our efforts." Bowser acknowledged Sunday that "the D.C. National Guard is the president's National Guard, so that's always his prerogative." And she noted that "federal law enforcement is always on the street in D.C. and we always work cooperatively with them."

In another post later Sunday, the president said Bowser "is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive."

"The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer," Mr. Trump wrote. "Just like I took care of the Border, where you had ZERO Illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World."

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the district in a nonvoting seat in the House, said Mr. Trump's move to federalize D.C. police is a "historic assault on D.C. home rule," calling it a "counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.'s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents."

National Guard troops began arriving at the D.C. Armory on Tuesday to report for duty to carry out President Donald Trump's directive to address crime in the nation's capital.

The guard members, who entered the D.C. National Guard's headquarters east of the U.S. Capitol dressed in their military uniforms, are part of a mobilization of about 800 soldiers the Army activated Monday to assist with law enforcement.

A senior Army official told NBC News that some troops were deploying with D.C. police Tuesday night. Their mobilization officially marks the beginning of the deployment, and all 800 soldiers should be operational and deployed at the end of the week.

Five military vehicles were parked in the shadow of the Washington Monument on Tuesday evening as tourists passed by. About a dozen guard members were milling about but did not engage with a reporter asking about their mission.

A defense official told NBC News that guard members will specifically be engaged in crowd management, perimeter control, security and communications support for law enforcement. The official said that in most cases, they won’t be carrying firearms.

While Trump's memorandum said the mobilization would end once he determines that the "conditions of law and order have been restored in the District of Columbia," the troops were notified they would be deployed until Sept. 25.

“Currently, the National Guard is being deployed to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence," a White House official said Monday.

Standing alongside Trump as he announced the executive order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that people should expect to see the guard members "flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week" and that they were prepared to bring in other specialized units.

Trump's memorandum also directed Hegseth to coordinate with governors across the country and "authorize the orders of any additional members of the National Guard to active service, as he deems necessary and appropriate, to augment this mission."

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, struck a highly critical tone in remarks about Trump on Tuesday night, characterizing his actions as an “authoritarian push” during a virtual chat with community leaders, whom she encouraged "to jump in" and "protect our city" to "get to the other side of this guy.”

In an interview, Greggory Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. Police Union, expressed support for Trump’s moves, which included federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department. Pemberton said crime was still "ubiquitous" in the city, adding that while Trump’s order could be helpful in fighting crime, it would most likely have only a temporary impact without more far-reaching changes.

Pemberton argued that one of the main reasons local law enforcement "can't get a handle on the crime" is a staffing shortage of more than 800 officer vacancies and said laws the City Council enacted "really prevent us from being able to do our job and being able to hold criminals accountable."

"As a short-term, stopgap measure, if they want to give us 1,000 National Guard members and 500 federal agents to help us do our job, we’ll take it," he said. "We’ll take anything we can to try to keep these criminals from victimizing citizens."

Pemberton said he is concerned that if longer-term changes aren't made, once federal agents and National Guard troops leave D.C., the police department "will be left holding the bag, which will only allow crime to again, you know, regain its foothold and start growing it again."

Washingtonians’ reactions to Trump's moves to take over the city were mixed. Denise Rucker-Krept, a Democrat and longtime resident of the neighborhood near where guard members are mobilizing, told NBC News on Tuesday that she agrees with Trump that the city has a crime problem, but she also doubted a short-term surge in law enforcement and the military presence would provide a sufficient fix.

“I say that because you can tell people not to commit crimes, you can arrest them, but if you do not prosecute them, then nothing happens,” Rucker-Krept said. She added that the City Council and the U.S. attorney’s office need to do more to prosecute those who commit crimes and hand down swift punishments that will serve as deterrents — including holding young people, who she said are a major part of the problem, accountable.

Bowser said Monday that the city was able to reverse a crime spike in 2023.

"This year, crime isn’t just down from 2023, it’s also down from 2019 before the pandemic, and we’re at a 30-year violent crime low," she said. But she added: "We’re not satisfied. We haven’t taken our foot off the gas, and we continue to look for ways to make our city safer."

Bowser met Tuesday with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is overseeing the effort, and several other top Justice Department officials. Also present was Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole, whom Trump tapped to lead the police department.

Bondi called the meeting "productive" on X, adding that they agreed that the safety of residents and tourists in D.C. was a top priority.

Bowser told reporters after the meeting that Trump’s takeover of the police department will not change the force's organizational chart or “how we do business.”

She emphasized that the city wanted to ensure it was using the new resources, saying she was focused on “the federal surge and how to make the most of the additional officer support that we have.”

Jim Lardner, who was in D.C. on Tuesday protesting Trump’s actions, said he thinks Trump is trying to distract the public from other issues his administration faces.

“The whole idea that there is some kind of a crisis of disorder in D.C. is a made-up phony story to distract attention from [a] deteriorating economy, from the ICE raids — which horrify even people who wanted action on immigration — and, of course, from the Epstein files. It’s all a game of diversion,” said Lardner, who was holding a “Resist” sign a few blocks north of the White House, where homeless people sometimes set up encampments.

“I think this administration would like to take over, not only D.C., but any state or jurisdiction that doesn’t completely bend the knee,” he added.

Washington, D.C.'s police chief is the force's top official once again, after the Trump administration rescinded an order that stripped her of power less than a day after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued it.

As part of an agreement struck Friday between attorneys from the Department of Justice and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb's office, Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Terry Cole will now be considered Bondi’s “designee,” instead of the emergency police chief, a position Bondi sought in her original order that claimed federal control of the department.

The agreement allows Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith to maintain control of the day-to-day operations of her department, while taking orders from Mayor Muriel Bowser.

In a new order Bondi issued Friday evening, the Department of Justice directed Bowser to order the police department to assist in immigration enforcement operations and to comply with database inquiries and requests for information from any federal law enforcement entity.

This effectively strips Washington, D.C., of its "sanctuary city" status.

But in a news conference after Friday's hearing in federal court, Schwalb, who had filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s police takeover, took a victory lap.

"The key for today is to know that our effort to avoid a hostile takeover of our police force is not going to happen," he told reporters. "Chief Smith remains in control of the police department under the supervision of our mayor."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know why Trump is so obsessed with crime in DC, Chicago, LA, etc. It's all about intimidating people of color.