Trump Orders Surge of Law Enforcement in Washington to Combat Crime

The White House said the move is necessary as Washington ‘has been plagued by violent crime for far too long.’

U.S. Capitol Police Officers patrol the East Front plaza of the Capitol Building in Washington on March 7, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Donald Trump had ordered the federal government to increase law enforcement presence in Washington to combat violent crime, the White House said on Aug. 7.

“President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

Leavitt stated that the increase will ensure there is “no safe harbor for violent criminals” in the District of Columbia, which she said has been “plagued by violent crime for far too long.”

The increased law enforcement presence on the streets will begin at midnight, following an 11 p.m. roll call at the established command center, a White House official told The Epoch Times by email.

The operation, the official said, will target “high traffic tourist areas” and other known hotspots, running for seven days “with the option to extend as needed.”

Federal officers will be highly visible and in marked units. The official said that details of the operation may be adjusted to meet law enforcement needs as it progresses.

The operation, led by U.S. Park Police, will involve 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 Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The number of officers had not been disclosed.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office has declined to comment on the matter.

Before the announcement, Trump said on Aug. 5 he was considering placing the District of Columbia under federal control after the recent assault of former Department of Government Efficiency staffer Edward Coristine.

The assault allegedly involved underage gang members. Two 15-year-olds were arrested in connection with the attack, and police said they are still looking for other members of the group.

“Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control,” Trump stated on Truth Social. “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.”

The president demanded that the city—which is run by a locally elected city council and mayor—change its ordinances regarding the prosecution of minor offenders. He said that offenders as young as age 14 should be subject to trial as an adult for violent offenses.

“Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” he stated.

On March 28, Trump signed an executive order establishing the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which will be tasked with ensuring “maximum enforcement” of federal immigration law in the city, reviewing federal prosecutorial policies on pretrial detention for criminal defendants, and monitoring the city’s sanctuary-city status.

The order also directed the task force to work with local law enforcement to facilitate the deployment of “a more robust local law enforcement” in areas of Washington and to ensure strict enforcement of “all applicable quality of life, nuisance, and public-safety laws” in the city.

Joseph Lord and The Associated Press contributed to this report.