Donald Trump announced that he was deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C. and placing the city’s Metropolitan Police under federal control.
Portraying the capital city as a crime-ridden hellhole, Trump told reporters that the city “is becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness.”
“We’re taking our capital back,” Trump said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the city’s police department. She was present along with Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host and
While there is a crime problem in D.C., the rate actual fell last year.
Trump also has announced efforts to clean up the city and to rid the area of homeless encampments, and said that the city would no longer be a sanctuary for illegal aliens.
Even before Trump’s announcement, which was expected, Democrats cast Trump’s announcement as an effort to change the subject from a sputtering economy and continued inflation, as well as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And as the president has tried to characterize himself as a president of law and order, opponents point to his pardoning of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6, including those who attacked police officers.
As Trump spoke, protesters were gathered on 16th Street, near Lafayette Park, singing “D.C. is our home. You can’t have it Trump.” In the 2024 election, Kamala Harris received 90% of the district vote compared to Trump.
Trump controls the National Guard in the city, and he cited a provision in the Home Rule Act in federalizing the city’s police department.
More to come.
