President Donald Trump said Monday he’s putting Washington’s police department under federal control and ordering the National Guard to deploy to the nation’s capital to combat what he said is a wave of lawlessness.
“I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C.,” Trump told reporters at the White House, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”
Trump said 800 National Guard troops will be deployed to support local and federal law enforcement.
“The Metropolitan Police Department and the federal authorities will be supported in the effort, a really big effort, the 800 D.C. National Guardsmen that we’ll put on. And much more, if necessary, much more,” Trump said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added that the National Guard units are expected to arrive in the capital within the coming week. (
Trump’s announcement is his latest effort to target Democrat-led cities by exercising executive power over traditionally local matters.
Hundreds of officers and agents from over a dozen federal agencies, including the FBI, ICE, DEA, and ATF, have already fanned out across the city in recent days.
The Democrat major of Washington, Muriel Bowser, pushed back on Trump’s claims, insisting the city is “not experiencing a crime spike” and that violent crime hit its lowest level in more than three decades last year.
The police department claims violent crime fell 26% in the first seven months of 2025 after dropping 35% in 2024, and overall crime dropped 7%.
But gun violence remains an issue. In 2023, Washington had the third-highest gun homicide rate among U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, according to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
The deployment of National Guard troops is a tactic the Republican president used in Los Angeles, where he dispatched 5,000 troops in June in response to protests over immigration raids. State and local officials objected to Trump’s decision as unnecessary, while polls showed Americans backed ousting illegal immigrants.
A federal trial was set to begin on Monday in San Francisco on whether the Trump administration violated U.S. law by deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines without the approval of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The president has broad authority over the 2,700 members of the D.C. National Guard, unlike in states where governors typically hold the power to activate troops. Guard troops have been dispatched to Washington many times, including in response to the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the Capitol.