Trump says he’s placing DC police under federal control and deploying National Guard
Aug 11, 2025, 9:52 AM
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo: Alex Brandon, The Associated Press)
(Photo: Alex Brandon, The Associated Press)
President Donald Trump said Monday he’s placing the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deploying the National Guard to make the nation’s capital safer.
Trump has promised new steps to tackle homelessness and crime in Washington, prompting the city’s mayor to voice concerns about the potential use of the National Guard to patrol the streets.
Ahead of a news conference, Trump said Monday on social media that the nation’s capital would be “LIBERATED today!” He said he would end the “days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people.”
Top DC prosecutor calls police takeover ‘unlawful’
The top prosecutor in the nation’s capital is calling Trump’s move to take over the city’s police department “unnecessary and unlawful.”
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb says crime is not an emergency levels. After a spike in 2023, violent crime hit its lowest level in decades last year and has continued to sink in 2025, he said.
The federal takeover could face a challenge in court, and Schwalb said his office is “considering all of our options.”
Trump goofs on location and date of Putin summit during briefing
Trump said a couple of times during the press briefing that he would be traveling to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin — but their summit is taking place in Alaska.
“I’m going to Russia on Friday,” he said in one instance.
He also made an erroneous reference at another time to the summit being next week instead.
Trump says he’s bringing in 800 National Guard members to assist with law enforcement in DC
In addition, Trump also said “we will bring in the military if it’s needed” but added “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared sending the Guard into the nation’s capital to deployments to the southern U.S. border and Los Angeles.
“We will work alongside all D.C. police and federal law enforcement,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said the D.C. National Guard will be “flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week.”
He also said the Pentagon was “prepared to bring in other National Guard units, other specialized units.”
Trump says he signed documents to give himself authority to crack down on crime in Washington
The president said he signed an executive order and presidential memorandum in the Oval Office before holding his news conference.
One executive order invoked presidential powers under the Home Rule Act to take over Washington’s police force.
He also signed what the administration called statutorily required notification letters to DC Mayor Bowser and relevant congressional leaders.
Trump also signed a presidential memorandum directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deploy the National Guard in the nation’s capital.
The president says other cities could be subject to the same efforts
Trump said he hopes other cities, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, are watching the steps he’s announced in D.C. and would take steps to “self-clean up.”
He said that if needed, the administration would take similar steps in other cities and criticized their leadership at the local and state levels.
Trump jokes about the crowded media briefing room
The president began the briefing Monday by commenting on the large crowd of journalists gathered for the news conference. He said he’d never seen the media briefing room as crowded as it was. Later during the briefing, he joked they may be violating fire codes.
“I’ve done this for years now, hard to believe,” he said. “I’ve never seen this room so packed. In fact, I’m sure it’s a violation of every fire code.”
