Trump takes over Washington DC police, deploys National Guard in capital
US president wants to ‘rescue’ Washington from a purported wave of lawlessness, and signals other major US cities could be next
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city’s police department, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation’s capital.
Trump’s move, which bypassed the city’s elected leaders, was emblematic of his second-term approach, which has seen him wield executive authority in ways with little precedent in modern US history and in defiance of political norms.
The president cast his actions as necessary to “rescue” Washington from a purported wave of lawlessness. Statistics show that violent crime shot up in 2023 but has been rapidly declining since.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals,” Trump told a news conference at the White House.
