WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0said Monday that he\u2019s deploying the National Guard across Washington and taking over the city\u2019s police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as the city\u2019s mayor has noted that crime is falling in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
The Republican president, who said he was formally declaring a public safety emergency, compared crime in the American capital with that in other major cities, saying Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil and Colombia, among others.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u00a0also said at his news briefing that his administration has started removing homeless encampments \u201cfrom all over our parks, our beautiful, beautiful parks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re getting rid of the slums, too,\u201d Trump said, adding that the U.S. would not lose its cities and that Washington was just a start.<\/p>\n
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will be taking over responsibility for Washington’s metro police department, he said, while also complaining about potholes and graffiti in the city and calling them \u201cembarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects a next step in\u00a0his law enforcement agenda\u00a0after his aggressive push to stop\u00a0illegal border crossings. But the move involves at least 500 federal law enforcement officials as well as the National Guard, raising fundamental questions about how an increasingly emboldened federal government will interact with its state and local counterparts.<\/p>\n
Combating crime<\/p>\n
The president has used his social media and White House megaphones to message that his administration is tough on crime, yet his ability to shape policy might be limited outside of Washington, which has a unique status as a congressionally established federal district. Nor is it clear how his push would address the root causes of homelessness and crime.<\/p>\n
Trump said he is invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to deploy members of the National Guard.<\/p>\n
About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation\u2019s capital as part of the Trump administration\u2019s effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.<\/p>\n
More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are also contributing officers.<\/p>\n
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn\u2019t immediately have a comment Monday morning.<\/p>\n
The National Guard<\/p>\n
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.<\/p>\n
Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that\u2019s not the most efficient use of our Guard,\u201d she said Sunday on MSNBC’s \u201cThe Weekend,\u201d acknowledging it is “the president\u2019s call about how to deploy the Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowser was making her first public comments since Trump started posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since\u00a0a rise in 2023. Trump’s weekend posts depicted the district as \u201cone of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World.”<\/p>\n
For Bowser, \u201cAny comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.\u201d<\/p>\n
Focusing on homelessness<\/p>\n
Trump in a Sunday social media post had emphasized the removal of Washington\u2019s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,\u201d Trump wrote Sunday. \u201cWe will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don\u2019t have to move out. We\u2019re going to put you in jail where you belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, the Republican president\u00a0directed federal law enforcement agencies\u00a0to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option \u201cto extend as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than\u00a0120 officers and agents\u00a0to assist in Washington.<\/p>\n
Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was \u201cridiculous\u201d and the city was \u201cunsafe,\u201d after\u00a0the recent assault\u00a0of a high-profile member of\u00a0the Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n
Crime statistics<\/p>\n
Police statistics\u00a0show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.<\/p>\n
Trump offered no details in Truth Social posts over the weekend about possible new actions to address crime levels he argues are dangerous for citizens, tourists and workers alike. The White House declined to offer additional details about Monday’s announcement.<\/p>\n
The police department and the mayor\u2019s office did not respond to questions about what Trump might do next.<\/p>\n
The president criticized the district as full of \u201ctents, squalor, filth, and Crime,\u201d and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,\u201d Trump said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He called Bowser \u201ca good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require\u00a0a repeal of the Home Rule Act\u00a0of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining. It could face steep pushback.<\/p>\n
Bowser acknowledged that the law allows the president to take more control over the city’s police, but only if certain conditions are met.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of those conditions exist in our city right now,” she said. \u201cWe are not experiencing a spike in crime. In fact, we\u2019re watching our crime numbers go down.\u201d<\/p>\n
_<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers Ashraf Khalil, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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