Despite a notable drop in violent crime in Washington, D.C. since a 2023 peak, President Trump announced in a 78-minute press conference that the federal government would assume control of the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department. The move is intended to address what he described as surging crime.
Trump stated, “I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse.” He was joined by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is set to oversee the city’s police force under federal control. Declaring it “Liberation Day in DC,” Trump asserted, “We’re going to take our capital back.”
He invoked “section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act” to place the police force under “direct federal control” and also announced the deployment of the National Guard. “I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC, and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly,” he said. Trump also mentioned his intention to remove the capital’s homeless population but did not provide specifics on how this would be accomplished.
