National Guard readies troops as Trump targets crime in DC

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Promising a sweeping crackdown on crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump said Monday that he's placing the Washington, D.C. police department "under direct federal order" and deploying the National Guard to help make the nation's capital safer.

"I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse," Trump said. "This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we're gonna take our capital back."

Trump also deployed the National Guard to "help reestablish law order and public safety" in the district.

"Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs, and homeless people, and we're not going ot let it happen anymore, Trump said.

Ahead of Trump's announcement, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been deployed "to help clean up the streets of our nation’s capital."

The announcement follows several days of heightened federal law enforcement patrols in the city, despite pushback from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who called the increased presence unnecessary.

Trump has argued he plans to make the district "safer and more beautiful than it ever was before."

Troops ready if called upon: National Guard spokesperson

Overnight, a U.S. official told NewsNation the military was preparing for the possibility of hundreds of National Guard troops being deployed on D.C. streets.

A D.C. National Guard spokesperson said no orders had been issued.

"We remain committed to providing trained and ready forces capable of providing support when called upon," the spokesperson said.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on social media that "before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World." He compared the effort to his approach at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump ordered more federal law enforcement to patrol the district last week. By Saturday night, 450 officers were patrolling popular tourist spots and made multiple arrests, including several for carrying firearms without a license.

Violent crime down 26% from last year: DC police

Metropolitan Police Department data shows violent crime is down 26% compared to the same time last year.

Bowser pushed back against Trump's focus on crime in the district and said the decline in crime is due to the community's cooperation.

"We had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023, this is 2025," she said Sunday on MSNBC. "We've done that by working with the community, working with the police, working with our prosecutors, and in fact working with the federal government."

Bowser argued the focus should be on hiring more prosecutors and judges and improving the city jail, rather than ramping up federal enforcement.