Trump federalizes DC police, deploys National Guard, federal agents

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Trump federalizes DC police, deploys National Guard, federal agents

A D.C. National Guard soldier walks by a military humvee in front of the Washington Monument on Aug. 12. U.S. ARMY/Deonte Rowell

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (ZFJ) — President Donald Trump federalized the capital’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), deployed 800 D.C. National Guard soldiers, and ordered federal agents to patrol the streets in response to his claims that crime in the city is out of control on Monday, Aug. 11.

The District of Columbia is primarily under federal control and has limited local governance under the Home Rule Act. Section 740 of this law allows for the president to federalize the MPD under a state of emergency. The president also retains the authority to activate the district’s guard forces.

In his first executive order, Trump accused district officials of failing to “maintain public order and safety,” citing statistics that say D.C. has a higher violent crime, murder, and robbery rate than any state and the highest vehicle robbery rate. On this basis, he declared a crime emergency and placed the MPD under the control of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

In his second executive order, Trump referred to three recent high profile incidents to say that D.C. crime has been out of control: the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in May, the fatal shooting of a congressional intern in June, and the recent attempted carjacking of Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, for which two 15-year-olds were arrested. On this basis, he has deployed the D.C. National Guard until he determines “that conditions of law and order have been restored in the District of Columbia.” He also authorized U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to mobilize additional state National Guard troops as necessary.

The MPD reports that crime overall decreased 15% from 2023 to 2024 and has decreased 7% from 2024 to 2025 (year-to-date). The earlier U.S. attorney for D.C. under Trump’s second term, Edward R. Martin, Jr., touted a 25% drop in violent crime (year-to-date), based on MPD reporting, under the first 100 days of Trump retaking office.

MONDAY PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCE

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodythirsty 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 told reporters at a Monday press conference announcing the state of emergency, flanked by officials including Hegseth, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, FBI director Kash Patel, and U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro. He blamed no cash bail and sanctuary jurisdiction policies for crime.

He said that about 500 federal agents were surged into D.C. last week and that they would “immediately begin massive enforcement operations targeting known gangs, drug dealers, and criminal networks to get them the hell off the street.” Agencies participating include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); U.S. Park Police; U.S. Marshals Service (USMS); U.S. Secret Service; and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He added that his effort would also focus on removing homeless encampments from parks.

Trump said that there are “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. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don’t even mention that anymore, they’re so far gone.”

In response to a reporter’s question on whether other cities will see similar federal actions, Trump said, “Other cities are hopefully watching this, they’re all watching, just like everyone’s watching here, they’re all watching, and maybe they’ll self clean up and self do this and get rid of the cashless bail thing and all of the things that caused the problem.”

LOCAL REACTIONS

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back against claims of a rising crime rate in a Monday press conference, framing the federal takeover as an “intrusion on autonomy.” She said that there was a crime spike after the COVID-19 pandemic but police worked quickly to remove violent offenders from the streets.

“We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike,” she said. “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 that city officials will comply with the federalization of the police department and reiterated her push for full statehood for the district.

MPD Police Chief Pamela A. Smith emphasized the importance of working with federal partners and maintaining community trust.

Gregg Pemberton, chair of the D.C. Police Union, fully backed Trump’s actions.

“We completely agree with the president that crime in the District of Columbia is out of control and something needs to be done with it,” Pemberton said on Fox News.

TUESDAY WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE

In the regular White House press briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 12, Leavitt said that about “850 officers and agents were surged across the city” and made “23 arrests” and “multiple other contacts” as well as seized “six illegal handguns.” Charges ranged from homicide and firearms offenses to reckless driving and driving under the influence.

In response to a reporter’s question asking for clarification about Trump’s post on Sunday, Aug. 10, warning the homeless to leave the city, Leavitt said that homeless individuals would be given the option to go to a homeless shelter, accept addiction or mental health services, or face fines or jail time. She said that the U.S. Park Police had removed 70 homeless encampments since March and that the last two in federal parks are scheduled to be removed this week.

“Again, these are preexisting laws that are already on the books,” she said. “They have not been enforced, which is part of the reason for this nationalizing of the, federalizing of the, National Guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement.”

In response to an additional reporter’s question, Leavitt said that the White House is exploring options to move homeless people far away from the city.

EXECUTION

Federal agents, including the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI, search a car during Trump’s “D.C. Safe and Beautiful” initiative. U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE/X Federal agents, including the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI, search a car during Trump’s “D.C. Safe and Beautiful” initiative. U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE/X

An article published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) said that 800 soldiers had been activated for the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” and that 100-200 would support law enforcement. Personnel duties would “include administrative and logistical roles, as well as providing a physical presence in support of law enforcement.”

The USMS D.C. District Court division posted that they were using their special deputation process to deputize guard soldiers as special deputy U.S. marshals, allowing the troops to act with the authority of federal law enforcement.

Attorney General Bondi posted about a meeting she had with district officials on Tuesday. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Pirro said that the secretary of the army and USMS director had also been at the meeting at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

FBI Director Patel reported on Tuesday that his agents made 10 arrests. He reported on Wednesday, Aug. 13, that his agents made eight more arrests and that federal partners “arrested 43 more individuals in total as of early Wednesday morning.”

EXPIRATION

Section 740 of the Home Rule Act contains limitations on the president’s power to take emergency control of the Metropolitan Police.

The president may federalize the police for 48 hours if he declares a state of emergency, and control can be extended to a maximum of 30 days if certain members of Congress have been notified of the reasoning for doing so in writing. The White House has made the appropriate notifications.

Control can be extended past 30 days or terminated early by an action by the U.S. Congress.

At a press conference on Wednesday at the Kennedy Center for an unrelated announcement, in response to a reporter’s question on whether or not he would be seeking an extension past 30 days, Trump said, “Well, if it’s a national emergency, we can do it without Congress, but we expect to be before Congress very quickly, and again, we think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously. So we’re gonna need a crime bill that we’re gonna be putting in, and it’s gonna pertain initially to D.C.”

“It’s almost, we’re gonna use it as a very positive example, and we’re gonna be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can’t have 30 days, 30 days is, that’s, by the time you do it, we’re gonna have this in good shape,” he said, adding that he closed the border without going to Congress to do so.

Trump previously federalized the California National Guard and also deployed U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June in the name of protecting immigration enforcement agents amidst widespread protests in the city. A trial is ongoing in federal court over the legality of the deployment.

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