Today, President Donald Trump said he would place the "D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control" and deploy "the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C."
According to Reuters, Trump is doubling down on the angry rhetoric he has employed in the past to talk about his plans for the city:
"We're starting very strongly with DC, and we're going to clean it up real quick," he said. "It's becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness, and we're getting rid of the slums, too. We have slums here. We getting rid of them. I know it's not politically correct. Caravans of mass youth rampaged through city streets at, all times of the day. They're in ATVs, motorbikes. They travel pretty well. Entire neighborhoods are now under emergency curfews."
Violent crime fell 26 percent in the first seven months of 2025; overall crime dropped 7 percent, according to the city's police department. 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.
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