Trump likens DC to ‘worst places on Earth’ as he deploys National Guard and puts cops under direct federal controlYour support helps us to tell the story
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Donald Trump has announced plans to deploy members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and take control of the city’s police force.
The dramatic move was in response to what the president claims is an “out of control” crime problem in the capital, even though data shows a recent decline.
Guardsmen will also be deployed “to help re-establish Law Order of public safety,” Trump said at a press conference with top officials Monday, adding, “This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back.”
To federalize law enforcement in the city, Trump invoked section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.
But the president is facing backlash over the decision.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out that violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low, while former House speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the president of trying distract from “his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration.”
And D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser branded the the administration’s plans as “unsettling and unprecedented.”
Elon Musk’s Grok calls Trump the ‘most notorious’ criminal in DC
The tech tycoon’s attempt to build a reliably right-wing AI chatbot continues to go off the rails, reports Io Dodds.
Joe Sommerlad12 August 2025 11:35
Critics claim Trump’s DC takeover is an ‘Epstein files’ distraction
The president’s enemies wasted no time in denouncing his crimefighting manoeuvre yesterday, with more than one person suggesting it was an attempt to distract from the ongoing pressure on Trump to release the government’s files on the late billionaire pedophile.
Joe Sommerlad12 August 2025 11:10
Recap: Trump likens DC to ‘worst places on Earth’ as feds take over capital
President Donald Trump on Monday invoked a never-before-used authority to seize control of the Washington, D.C. police department and hand it over to the control of his attorney general as he simultaneously ordered the National Guard to begin patrolling the streets.
Casting the unprecedented move as needed to “rescue” the city from “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump announced his federalization of the nation’s capital from the White House press briefing room just months after the Justice Department issued a press release touting the city’s declining crime rate.
Here’s a full report from Andrew Feinberg.
Joe Sommerlad12 August 2025 10:45
Fox News pundit contradicts Trump’s claims that ‘crime is out of control’ in DC
In advance of the president’s announcement yesterday, former D.C., homicide detective and defense attorney Ted Williams took to Fox News over the weekend to reject Trump’s contention that “crime is out of control.”
“I have to agree with the mayor here,” Williams told anchor Jon Scott.
“Yes, there is crime, and there will always be crimes in every major metropolitan city in this country.
“What I really found troubling and, I gotta tell you, as a lawyer I found it troubling… is that the President of the United States would say that crime is out of control.
“I take exception to that. Crime is not out of control in the District of Columbia.”
Joe Sommerlad12 August 2025 10:20
Recap of Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ announcement for D.C.
President Donald Trump said Monday he’s taking over Washington’s police department and activating 800 members of the National Guard in the hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed crime is already falling in the nation’s capital.
The president, flanked by his attorney general, his defense secretary and the FBI director, said he was declaring a public safety emergency and his administration would be removing homeless encampments.
“We’re going to take our capital back,” Trump declared, adding he’d also be “getting rid of the slums.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi will assume responsibility for Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, Trump said, as he also railed against potholes and graffiti in the city and called them “embarrassing.”
The president did not provide a timeline for the control of the police department, but he’s limited to 30 days under statute unless he gets approval from Congress.
As Trump spoke, demonstrators gathered outside the White House to protest his moves. And local officials rejected the Republican president’s depiction of the district as crime-ridden and called his actions illegal.
“The administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia.”
Donald Trump said he wants to ‘rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Sam Rkaina12 August 2025 09:18
Keya Chatterjee, executive director of local campaign group Free DC also criticized the president’s announcement.
“Nothing Trump is doing right now is about our safety.
“What we know from history is that authoritarians always want to control the capital and the people in the capital city.
“It’s because it’s the fastest way to silence dissent and to accelerate their agenda.
“And I want to be clear, this is not about crime. This is about what Trump is trying to do to DC in order to take over DC and silence us.”
Sam Rkaina12 August 2025 09:07
Sharpton accuses Trump of ‘ultimate affront to justice’
Civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton has condemned Trump’s plans for D.C., describing it as the “Ultimate affront to justice and civil rights… Donald Trump was inspired to take this disgusting, dangerous, and derogatory action solely out of self interest.
“Let’s call the inspiration for this assault on a majority Black city for what it is: another bid to distract his angry, frustrated base over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files.”
Rev Al Sharpton has condemned Trump’s announcement (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Sam Rkaina12 August 2025 09:04
Charlie Kirk calls for ‘full military occupation’ of American cities ‘once we liberate DC’
Donald Trump’s takeover of Washington, DC, policing could be heading to other cities.
The president has long threatened to bring down the force of federal law enforcement on cities, often Democrat-led, around the country to pursue his immigration and law and order agenda, and his supporters want to see that threat turned into reality.
MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk is among those celebrating Trump’s “Liberation Day” takeover of the nation’s capital by calling for the Trump administration to unleash a “full military occupation” of other large American cities “once we liberate” Washington, D.C.
In what appeared to be spurred by the recent late-night attack on former DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, who was allegedly assaulted during an attempted carjacking, Trump announced on Monday that he was deploying 800 National Guard troops and temporarily taking control of Washington’s police department to fight crime in the city.
“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 to let it happen anymore,” Trump exclaimed on Monday. Despite violent crime falling for two straight years in Washington under the current chief of police, the president likened the city to the “worst places on Earth” while repeatedly framing it as a dystopian hellscape.
Josh Marcus12 August 2025 03:40
Pictures: Federal agents descend on DC
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Josh Marcus12 August 2025 03:20
Trump claims D.C. law enforcement takeover has yielded 37 arrests
The Trump administration’s push to temporarily federalize police operations in Washington is reportedly underway.
Beginning Friday, the administration surged federal agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and other agencies, to the capital for street patrols.
The administration has also taken control of the Washington municipal police department and promised to send National Guard troops into the capital.
The White House said on Monday that the multi-agency effort, which it dubs “Operation Making D.C. Safe & Beautiful,” netted 37 arrests in a single night, including four narcotic charges and 11 illegal guns seized.
Josh Marcus12 August 2025 03:02