President Donald Trump said Washington, D.C., will soon be “one of the safest” cities in the world as his administration moves to curb violent crime in the nation’s capital.
In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump said a White House press conference Monday will outline his plan to stop violent crime in the District.
“It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “It will soon be one of the safest!!!”
The announcement followed Thursday’s statement from the White House that Trump had ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement in the city, The Washington Times reported.
“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens.”
The weeklong initiative, with a possible extension, is being led by the U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Trump has long criticized crime in D.C. and has repeatedly floated the idea of federalizing the city, which would require Congress to overturn the 1973 Home Rule Act that granted the District an elected local government.
In a separate post this week, Trump cited the bloody mugging of Edward Coristine, a Department of Government Efficiency staffer known as “Big Balls,” as an example of the city’s problems, CBS News reported.
“Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time that they will almost immediately be released,” Trump said. “They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!”
He called for changes to D.C. law so teenagers 14 and older who commit crimes are charged as adults.
“The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14,” Trump said. “The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs. If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
Vice President J.D. Vance backed the president’s plan.
“Our nation’s capital has become ridden with out-of-control violent crime thanks to misguided local leadership,” Vance wrote on X. “President Trump is putting a stop to this lawlessness.”
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order creating a task force to “surge law enforcement officers in public areas and strictly enforce quality-of-life laws in public areas like drug use, unpermitted demonstrations, vandalism, and public intoxication,” while also aiding in migrant removals and cracking down on fare evasion.
The latest push to federalize D.C. follows an attempted carjacking that injured a DOGE staff member.
“I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City,” Trump wrote on social media last week.
While Trump said he wants to “run D.C.,” the president alone cannot fully federalize the District without Congress overturning the Home Rule Act. Some Republican lawmakers have proposed restoring presidential control over the city, but the measure faces long odds in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Trump has also suggested taking over the D.C. police or deploying the National Guard. Under current law, the president can take control of the Metropolitan Police Department in an emergency, though such a move could face legal challenges.
He also commands the D.C. National Guard, which reports solely to the president.