WASHINGTON—President Trump said he would deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and place the city’s police department under federal control, launching an unprecedented effort to take charge of the nation’s capital.
“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said during a news conference at the White House, where he was flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth , Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior administration officials.
Trump said roughly 800 D.C. National Guard troops would be deployed to the city. He added that he would call in active-duty military troops if needed and suggested he might attempt to take similar action in other U.S. cities.
The president compared the homicide rate in Washington with capitals around the world, including Baghdad and Bogotá, Colombia. Violent crime in the city was down 35% last year from 2023, Justice Department data show, the lowest in more than 30 years. The data showed a decline in homicides, robberies, armed carjackings and assaults with a dangerous weapon.
“You want to have safety in the streets. You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe in going to a store to buy a newspaper or buy something, and you don’t have that now,” Trump said, adding he was going to “get rid of slums.”
The president has escalated his attacks on the city in recent days, saying Mayor Muriel Bowser hadn’t done enough to control crime and homelessness. He also increased federal law-enforcement’s presence in the city.
The administration is also deploying hundreds of federal agents throughout the district, including more than 100 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as part of its crackdown, a person familiar with the matter said.
Trump brought up Edward Coristine , who worked for the Department of Government Efficiency and was beaten after an attempted carjacking earlier this month. He previously posted a photo of a bloodied Coristine, without identifying him, on social media. “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City,” Trump wrote in the post.
Under the Home Rule Act, which established the district’s governing body, Congress has the power to challenge laws passed by the Washington city council and must approve the budget, although it rarely gets involved. The president can deploy the district’s National Guard, but has limited ability to intervene in day-to-day matters.
Trump invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows the president to federalize the D.C. police when “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.” Under the law, the president must notify Congress about his rationale for federalizing the D.C. police.
Shortly before noon on Monday, the White House notified the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has jurisdiction over D.C., about its plans to take over the city’s. police force, according to a panel spokesman.
The president said Bondi would oversee the city’s police department. Terry Cole , the administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, will serve as interim federal commissioner of the D.C. police, he said.
The president said he planned to call on Congress to take action to end cashless bail, which he has said contributes to an increase in crime in cities. Illinois, New York, and Washington, D.C., have eliminated or limited the use of cash bail, which proponents say makes the criminal justice system more equitable.
Democrats criticized Trump’s efforts to exert control over D.C.
“This sort of theater of the absurd in politics is not the answer,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) said. “Federalizing the police force of America is not the answer. We need to work on programs that do work in communities like D.C. and Chicago.”
Protesters gather near the White House, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced he is placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Trump has carried over his rhetoric about D.C. from the campaign trail. During a Florida rally last July, he said visitors to Washington could “end up getting shot, mugged, raped. We’re going to take over our capital and we’re going to run it tough and smart. And we’re going to beautify it. We’re going to get all the graffiti off the marble. We’re going to fix the roads and the medians.”
The party platform adopted at his nominating convention states that the GOP would “reassert greater Federal Control over Washington, D.C. to restore Law and Order in our Capital City.”
Protesters gather near the White House, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced he is placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Earlier this year, the president signed an executive order creating a “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” and called for an increase in law enforcement in public areas and efforts to “beautify” parks and other public spaces in the city.
Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over deportation operations earlier this year. California officials said the military presence exacerbated tensions in Los Angeles.
In 2020, Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., amid widespread protests following the killing of George Floyd . In his first term, Trump also sent federal agents to some major cities amid protests, including Portland, Ore .
Write to Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@wsj.com and Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com
