President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and announced a temporary federal takeover of the city’s police department — a move that bypasses local leadership and represents an unusual expansion of presidential authority in the capital.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals,” Trump declared at a White House news conference, framing the action as a necessary step to “rescue” Washington from a surge in crime.
While federal statistics confirm violent crime rose sharply in 2023, city data shows a significant turnaround since then, with a 35% drop last year and an additional 26% decline in the first seven months of 2025.
This is the second time this summer Trump has sent troops into a Democratically governed city without state or local consent. A federal trial is currently underway in San Francisco to determine whether he violated the law by deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles in June without Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval.
“If we need to, we’re going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster,” Trump warned, adding, “Hopefully L.A. is watching.” Chicago, however, has also reported reductions in violent crime this year.
Trump’s “law and order” rhetoric has frequently singled out majority-Democratic cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington — all with large Black populations — as examples of urban violence.
In Washington, hundreds of officers and agents from over a dozen federal agencies have already been deployed in recent days. Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the Metropolitan Police Department during the federal intervention.
The U.S. Army said the Guard troops will provide “administrative, logistics, and physical presence” support, with 100 to 200 personnel on duty at any given time.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has rejected Trump’s depiction of the city, citing 2024’s historically low violent crime rates and accusing the president of politicizing law enforcement.
