Trump Seizes Control of DC Police, Deploys National Guard/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ President Donald Trump announced he will assume control of Washington D.C.’s police force and deploy the National Guard. The move comes despite crime data showing record-low violent crime rates in the capital. Local officials and critics accuse Trump of politicizing law enforcement powers.
Trump DC Police Takeover Quick Looks
- Trump to take federal control of Washington D.C.’s police department.
- National Guard troops to be deployed in the capital city.
- Justification: alleged surge in violent crime, despite data showing 30-year lows.
- Hundreds of federal agents already deployed from FBI, ICE, DEA, ATF.
- DC Mayor Muriel Bowser rejects Trump’s claims, cites falling crime rates.
- Violent crime dropped 26% in 2025 after 35% drop in 2024.
- Gun violence remains a concern; DC had third-highest gun homicide rate in 2023 among major U.S. cities.
- Trump used similar troop deployments in Los Angeles after immigration protests.
- Federal trial underway in California over alleged unlawful troop deployments.
- DC National Guard falls under presidential authority, not a governor’s.
- Similar DC deployments occurred during Jan. 6, 2021, and 2020 protests.
- U.S. military is generally barred from domestic law enforcement roles.
Trump Seizes Control of DC Police, Deploys National Guard
Deep Look
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will assume direct control of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and deploy the National Guard to the nation’s capital. Standing at the White House alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump declared that the measures were necessary to “reestablish law, order and public safety” in what he described as a city “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”
The move marks one of the most aggressive assertions of federal authority over a municipal police force in recent history. Trump’s decision comes despite city crime statistics showing the opposite of his claim: violent crime in Washington fell to its lowest level in more than 30 years in 2024 and has continued to drop in 2025.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime fell by 35% in 2024 and has declined an additional 26% in the first seven months of 2025. Overall crime is down 7% this year.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser dismissed Trump’s assertions of a crime wave, saying the city “is not experiencing a crime spike” and accusing the president of politicizing law enforcement to target Democratic-led jurisdictions.
Federal Forces Already in Place
In recent days, hundreds of officers and agents from over a dozen federal agencies — including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — have already been deployed across the city. The National Guard deployment, Trump said, would “support and supplement” these operations.
Gun violence remains one of Washington’s lingering challenges. In 2023, the city recorded the third-highest gun homicide rate among U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group.
Pattern of Federal Intervention
This is not the first time Trump has ordered large-scale troop deployments into major U.S. cities. In June, he sent 5,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids, a move state and local officials called “unnecessary” and “provocative.” That decision is now at the center of a federal trial in San Francisco, where plaintiffs allege the administration violated U.S. law by deploying troops without state consent.
In Washington, Trump faces no such legal hurdle. The president holds direct authority over the 2,700 members of the D.C. National Guard, unlike in states where governors typically activate guard units. This power has been exercised multiple times, including in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack by Trump supporters, and during the summer 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd. Civil rights groups condemned the 2020 deployment, calling it an intimidation tactic against largely peaceful demonstrators.
Legal Limits on Military in Law Enforcement
Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the U.S. military is generally barred from engaging in direct domestic law enforcement activities. However, the National Guard — when under state or presidential control — can be used to assist civilian law enforcement in specific circumstances. Trump’s critics argue that his frequent use of this authority is an abuse of power aimed more at making a political statement than addressing public safety needs.
For Trump, the latest action in Washington reflects a broader campaign strategy focused on portraying Democratic-led cities as dangerous and disorderly, regardless of crime data. For local leaders and civil liberties advocates, it raises fresh concerns about the militarization of policing and the erosion of traditional boundaries between federal and local authority.
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