Trump deploys National Guard to Washington DC amid high crime rates

President Donald Trump announced he is invoking the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to bring the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control - a rare and contentious step. The US President further added that National Guard troops would be deployed to Washington, D.C., to “re-establish law, order, and public safety,” stressing they would be allowed to carry out their duties without restriction. Trump said,he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation's capital."Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals," Trump told a news conference at the White House.

President Trump announces he is invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard.

"This is Liberation Day in D.C. — and we're going to take our capital BACK." pic.twitter.com/aqov60mrCW

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 11, 2025

Trump's move, which bypassed the city's elected leaders, was emblematic of his second-term approach, which has seen him wield executive authority in ways with little precedent in modern U.S. history and in defiance of political norms. Trump is able to temporarily seize control of the city’s police department under emergency powers granted in a decades-old law that gives the more than 700,000 residents of Washington the political autonomy to elect a mayor and city council members.