WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he will activate hundreds of National Guard troops to be in the nation’s capital to deal with the issue of crime.
Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973, which puts control of the Metropolitan Police Department under the president for 48 hours.
The president can keep renewing this control for up to 30 days while notifying Congress. After 30 days, he must get approval from Congress.
He said that Attorney General Pam Bondi is “taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department” and that Terry Cole, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is “designated as the interim federal commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department.”
The National Guard troops would not have the authority to arrest people, although they can detain people until law enforcement arrives.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was not given advance notice regarding the federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Bowser called the takeover “unsettling.”
“My message to residents is this,” she said at a press conference. “We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me and many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 10 ahead of his announcement, “The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive.”
Appearing on MSNBC on Aug. 10, Bowser said, “We are not experiencing a crime spike.”
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” he posted on Truth Social.
On Aug. 7, Trump ordered an increase in federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
“President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Epoch Times.
The operation, led by the U.S. Park Police, involves officers from the U.S. Capitol Police; Homeland Security Investigations; the Federal Protective Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Enforcement and Removal Operations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The number of officers had not been disclosed.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb criticized Trump’s announcement.
Last week, a former staffer with the Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted while trying to stop a carjacking.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
There has been a 12 percent drop in homicides, a 50 percent decrease in sexual abuse cases, a 28 percent reduction in robberies, and a 20 percent drop in burglaries.
The data show that in 2024, there was a 35 percent drop in violent crime compared to the previous year, while there was an 11 percent decrease in property crime. This marked a 15 percent decrease in crime overall.
The president said he is looking to get federal authorities involved in other cities, such as Chicago.
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has expressed concern over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s handling of crime classifications.
FOP Chair Gregg Pemberton told NBC4 Washington on July 18, “When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain who will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense” such as a theft or a felony assault.
