President Trump announced Monday that he was taking control of the District of Columbia\u2019s police and deploying the National Guard.<\/p>\n
Trump portrayed the moves, which will involve about 800 National Guard troops, as a response to high crime rates in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
He said it was an attempt to \u201crescue\u201d the District from \u201cbloodshed, bedlam and squalor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reporters in a packed White House briefing room received handouts just before the president spoke where the District\u2019s murder rate was shown as higher than those of other international cities including Delhi, London and Bogot\u00e1, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Police statistics, however, show crime rates in the District have fallen sharply over the past two years. Violent crime is down 26 percent when compared year-to-date against 2024. Last year, in turn, saw a 32 percent drop in homicides and a 35 percent drop in overall violent crime compared to 2023.<\/p>\n
That being said, the total number of homicides last year, 187, was still above the years that immediately preceded 2020\u2019s COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Here are the main takeaways from Trump\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n
The decision from Trump was more expansive than many people expected.<\/p>\n
A deployment of National Guard troops had been predicted, in part because the District\u2019s status \u2014 short of full statehood \u2014 gives the president clear control of when the Guard is deployed.<\/p>\n
The decision to wrest control of Washington\u2019s police \u2014 the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) \u2014 was a significantly larger step.<\/p>\n
The fact that it came amid falling crime rates makes it even more controversial.<\/p>\n
So too does the politics of the District. Voters who gave then-Vice President Kamala Harris more than 90 percent of their votes last November will have their police force taken over by a notably divisive Republican president. Trump secured fewer than 7 percent of the vote in D.C.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Home Rule Act of 1973, which gives the District its current measure of autonomy,\u00a0provides for a president\u00a0taking emergency control of the D.C. police for 48 hours.<\/p>\n
During that period, a president who wishes to extend control is supposed to provide the reasons for that decision to the chairs and ranking members of House and Senate committees with responsibilities for the District.<\/p>\n
Doing this enables presidential control for 30 days. Any extension beyond that, the statute says, can only come if \u201cthe Senate and the House of Representatives enact into law a joint resolution authorizing such an extension.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Trump accedes to those requirements remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) was critical of Trump\u2019s decision without intensifying her rhetoric as much as she could have.<\/p>\n
Bowser called the president\u2019s move\u00a0\u201cunsettling and unprecedented\u201d\u00a0in a news conference.<\/p>\n
She also used the move to reiterate her belief that D.C. should be granted full statehood \u2014 a long-standing aim for many of the District\u2019s voters.<\/p>\n
In relation to a question about the prospect of military troops being deployed, Bowser said, \u201cI think I speak for all Americans: We don\u2019t believe it is legal to use the American military against American citizens on American soil.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Bowser struck a fairly restrained tone throughout, writing on social media, \u201cHere\u2019s where we stand after today\u2019s announcement: we will follow the law, work with federal officials, and continue the work we do every single day to keep D.C. safe, beautiful, and the best city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone in city government was quite so measured.<\/p>\n
The District\u2019s attorney general, Brian Schwalb (D), said Trump\u2019s\u00a0move was \u201cunlawful\u201d\u00a0and asserted that \u201cthere is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the D.C. government, Democrats, liberals and civil rights groups expressed angst over what they see as Trump\u2019s penchant for gratuitous militarization.<\/p>\n
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in a statement that Trump\u2019s \u201cever-expanding use of the military for domestic matters is beyond alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed cited as a precursor Trump\u2019s deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles earlier this year \u2014 against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) \u2014 saying that this showed a willingness \u201cto deploy U.S. military forces on American streets for inflammatory and political reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) accused Trump of being \u201can incoherent wannabe dictator who is trying to turn D.C. into his personal police state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) contended that \u201cusing U.S. military forces to enforce a policy agenda on American soil is a gross abuse of power that reeks of authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the broader criticism, Monica Hopkins, the executive director of the D.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, called Trump\u2019s move \u201cpolitical theater and a blatantly phony justification for abuse of emergency powers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even amid all the words on both sides, there is a lot of uncertainty.<\/p>\n
One obvious question is whether Trump will fulfill the demands of the Home Rule Act, in terms of informing Congress about the reasons for his decision to take control of the police and in ceding back control of the MPD after no more than 30 days.<\/p>\n
Another issue is where exactly the National Guard or other federally commanded troops will be deployed.<\/p>\n
Trump has focused on tourist-friendly areas being besmirched by crime. But in fact Washington\u2019s worst crime rates by far are found in the economically deprived neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, far from the epicenter of tourism.<\/p>\n
Another uncertainty hangs over what the president would characterize as success. In a social media post, he insisted that crime \u2014 as well as \u201cSavagery, Filth and Scum\u201d \u2014 would \u201cDISAPPEAR\u201d from D.C.<\/p>\n
Presumably he doesn\u2019t consider literally zero crime to be an achievable goal. Does any crime at all amount in his mind to justification for maintaining federal control?<\/p>\n
During Monday\u2019s news conference, Trump took questions on other topics.<\/p>\n
The most interesting moments came when he discussed his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday in Alaska.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tone suggested a new turn against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump and Vice President Vance berated Zelensky during an Oval Office meeting in late February, but more recently the president had seemed to be putting pressure on Putin.<\/p>\n
That changed back Monday, when Trump once again\u00a0appeared to blame Zelensky\u00a0for the war, which was in fact started by Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get along with Zelensky but, you know, I disagree with what he\u2019s done \u2014 very severely disagree,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThis is a war that should have never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
A deadline Trump had set for new sanctions on Russia expired Friday without action being taken.<\/p>\n
All in all, Trump\u2019s latest shift will please Moscow and discomfort Kyiv.<\/p>\n
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