POTUS Trump Takes Federal Control of D.C. Police, Deploys National Guard Amid Crime Crackdown

United States President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is placing the Washington, D.C., police department under federal authority and ordering the deployment of the National Guard to the U.S. capital, a move he says is aimed at making the city safer.

The decision follows Trump’s repeated pledges to curb homelessness and violent crime in the District, though it has drawn concerns from city officials about the scope of federal intervention.

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The president said he had signed an executive order invoking presidential powers under the Home Rule Act to take over the city’s police force, along with a memorandum directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to send 800 National Guard members to assist in law enforcement. 

Trump added that the military would be brought in “if needed,” but said he did not expect it to be necessary.

The announcement drew immediate backlash from local and national leaders. Rev. Al Sharpton called the move “an assault on a majority Black city” and accused Trump of acting out of self-interest. 

In a statement, Sharpton said D.C.’s leadership must resist the use of the city and its residents as “political props,” warning that the decision undermines civil rights and the humanity of low-income and homeless communities. 

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb called the takeover “unnecessary and unlawful,” pointing to crime statistics showing that violent crime in Washington fell to its lowest level in decades in 2024 and has continued to drop in 2025. Schwalb said his office is considering legal options to challenge the order.

During a wide-ranging press conference, Trump also previewed his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska later this week, calling it “really a feel out meeting” and saying it “might be good, but it might be bad.” 

He mused about the possibility of normalizing trade with Russia if progress is made toward ending the war in Ukraine. 

The president also weighed in on the looming U.S.–China tariff deadline, suggesting that his administration has had “good” dealings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and confirmed that he is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. 

Trump said similar federal takeovers could be considered in other cities, citing Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago as examples, if local and state leaders did not take steps to “self-clean up.”

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