Following President Donald Trump‘s announcement a day earlier that he is deploying guard troops and placing the police department in Washington, DC, “under direct federal control,” citing a public safety emergency following an assault on a former government employee, the DC National Guard started to show up in the nation’s capital on Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, TFD saw five armored personnel carriers close to the Washington Monument. The President of the United States is the sole person to whom the DC National Guard reports. Because the city is a district rather than a state, the president and the federal government have more discretion over how to deploy troops and other federal powers.
Trump’s further attempt to seize control of the DC police department is based on the broad, but short-lived, authority provided by the Home Rule Act of 1973, a legislation that strikes a balance between local autonomy and federal supervision in the nation’s capital. Any request to take over the police department for a longer period of time requires legislation, even though the president can do so for a maximum of 30 days after receiving notification from Congress.
Following the August 3 carjacking attempt that resulted in the attack of a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump made his pronouncement on Monday. Overall crime rates this year are lower than those of previous year, despite Trump’s frequent criticism of what he claims is an increase in violent crime in Washington.
“Today, Washington, D.C., will be LIBERATED!” Trump stated on his Truth Social on Monday.
The announcement also coincided with the first day of a trial by administration attorneys in a courtroom Monday regarding the legality of Trump’s June deployment of the National Guard in California in the midst of protests over immigration sweeps in Los Angeles.
Here are some facts regarding Trump’s power in Washington, DC, and the ramifications of this extraordinary action:
How did Trump seize control of the DC police?
The Home Rule Act of 1973 governs Washington, DC, giving Congress control and supervision over the nation’s capital while granting district citizens a degree of self-governance.
According to the statute, the president can assume command of the city’s police force for a maximum of 48 hours if he finds that “special conditions of an emergency nature exist,” necessitating the department’s employment for federal reasons.
This is the first time a president has taken command of the city’s police department in the history of the legislation.
Trump must formally inform the heads and ranking members of congressional committees that deal with DC affairs if he wants to extend the takeover.
Given the current stalemate in a sharply divided Congress, any control that lasted longer than 30 days would require congressional approval and would have to be enacted into law.
What are the opinions of district leaders?
According to three sources who spoke to CNN, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and the heads of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department were unaware of Trump’s plans prior to his statement.
At a press conference on Monday, Bowser described the action as “unsettling and unprecedented,” stating that she thinks Trump’s perception of Washington was “shaped by his Covid-era experience during his first term” when crime increased.
Greggory Pemberton, the chairman of the DC Police Union, stated that the organization concurs that “something needs to be done” and supports the action.
The National Guard shows up in Washington, DC, as police and government agencies collaborate.
According to the Defense Department, Trump also activated 800 members of the DC National Guard, up to 200 of whom were designated to assist law enforcement.
According to the Defense Department, “those personnel’s responsibilities include logistical and administrative tasks in addition to providing a physical presence in support of law enforcement.”
Trump has extensive authority over the city’s business outside of the police department. The city is home to the headquarters of several federal law enforcement organizations, such as the FBI, which answer directly to the administration.
In Washington, DC, TFD watched the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement organizations outside Union Station, as well as the guard members outside the National Mall on Tuesday night.
Trump transferred up to 130 FBI agents and other federal officials to patrol with DC police in several neighborhoods over the weekend.
DC’s crime rates have decreased since the previous year.
Data indicates that violent crime in Washington, DC, has been decreasing since its 2023 peak, with two years of consistent improvement, despite Trump’s assertions on Monday that violence is “out of control.”
2023 saw 274 recorded homicides, the most since 1997 in the city. However, there was a 32% decline in 2024 to 187, and as of Sunday, there had been another 12% decline this year, with 99 recorded.
The trend in carjackings was similar. The number of reported carjackings decreased to about 500 in 2024 after skyrocketing to 959 in 2023. As of Saturday, there were just 188 instances in 2025. The number of carjackings in July was the lowest since May 2020.
Similar to this, violent crime has significantly decreased in 2024, 2025, or both in places with a history of high homicide rates, such as Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit.
New developments have been added to this story and headline.
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