Calling D.C. a 'horror show,' Trump takes over MPD and deploys the National Guard

In an almost unprecedented move in D.C.’s 50-year experience with self-governance, President Donald Trump on Monday took control of the Metropolitan Police Department, putting its 3,100 sworn officers under his direct command for the next 30 days.

And for the second time in as many terms, Trump is also putting troops on the ground in D.C., deploying up to 800 D.C. National Guard troops to city streets – with a promise of more to come, should he decide they are needed.

The sweeping public safety measures are aimed at tackling what Trump claims is a dramatic spike in crime that has turned D.C. into a “horror show” and “tragic emergency.” (Violent crime is down from this same time last year.) They also cap off a week of wildly escalating-yet-misleading rhetoric about public safety, and come on top of last week’s decision to order hundreds of federal law enforcement agents onto city streets. 

Trump said his plan would “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, squalor, and worse. This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”

On a practical level, Trump’s takeover will be most evident when the National Guard deploys around D.C., though where they will be located and what they will be doing is still being determined. As for MPD, Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi would take over the department’s leadership.

But speaking on Monday afternoon, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Chief Pamela Smith would retain control over the department – and that officers would continue to follow local laws and regulations.

"Nothing about our organizational chart has changed," she said.

The president has always been critical of crime rates here (and in other Democratic cities), and he’s often floated the idea of taking control of the nation’s capital. But on Monday he described “a situation of total and complete lawlessness” that local officials have been unable to handle, and described D.C. in almost apocalyptic terms, saying it was overrun by “violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”

And as he is known to do, Trump also played fast and loose with the facts to make his case, using the murder rate from 2023 (when D.C. saw a spike in killings, as was the case in many cities) to argue that D.C. was one of the most dangerous cities in the world, a claim that is not remotely true. 

So far in 2025, violent crime in D.C. is down 26% compared to the same time last year, and in 2024 overall violent crime decreased some 35% from the highs in 2023. And overall violent crime rates and homicides have trended down over the last three decades.

That being said, there have been high-profile and tragic killings this year (including of three-year-old Honestly Cheadle), and continued instances of large groups of juveniles causing problems in neighborhoods. The most recent case came last Saturday, when police were called to Navy Yard to deal with an unruly and violent crowd. (The next day D.C. police imposed an emergency juvenile curfew in the area, part of a new law passed by the D.C. Council.)  

During his press conference Trump used violent language to explain his philosophy on public safety, saying he favored “rough police” and that he would tell police officers in D.C. to tell criminal suspects that resist them: “‘You spit and we hit,’ and they get hit real hard.” But at one point in the press conference, Trump seemed to undercut his own argument that more armed men are needed to deal with crime, telling the crowd of reporters that he was surprised to hear that MPD already had more than 3,000 sworn officers. “You don’t need more. That’s an army,” he said.

In justifying his far-reaching actions – which the D.C. Police Union said it supports – Trump said that D.C.’s locally elected leadership was to blame for the state of crime in the city. 

“This dire public safety crisis stems from the abject failures of the city’s leadership,” he said, targeting both the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has tried to quietly mollify and sidestep Trump to avoid incurring his wrath. A few months ago, she had Black Lives Matter Plaza painted over and more recently pushed to repeal D.C.’s sanctuary city status, overturning critical stances she took during his first term. (Over the weekend, she gave one TV interview where she expressed cautious disagreement with Trump.) The council has also more recently passed anti-crime laws and expanded pre-trial detention for violent offenders. 

Speaking a few hours after Trump spoke, Bowser retained her measured response, saying that her administration has prioritized bringing down the crime rate. She did question whether an emergency existed that would merit federalizing MPD and calling up the National Guard, and said that Trump's view of public safety in the nation's capital hasn't evolved since his first term.

"I believe that the president’s view of D.C. is shaped by his COVID-era experience. It is true those were more challenging times. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post-COVID. But we worked quickly to put laws and tactics in place to get violent offenders off the street… which is why we have seen a huge decrease in crime. We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike," she said.

Bowser also said she would be willing to push for changes to certain criminal justice laws that have drawn the ire of U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, including one that allows certain people to have their criminal records sealed and another that allows felons to request early release from prison after they have served a certain amount of their sentence.

Meanwhile, Trump’s announcement drew a crowd of hundreds of angry protesters outside the White House and a quick reaction from D.C. Attorney Brian Schwalb, whose office prosecutes juveniles and most minor crimes.  

“The administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” said Schwalb. “We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.”

Speaking on behalf of the whole 13-member council, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called Trump's move "a manufactured intrusion on local authority” in a statement. “Federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is unwarranted because there is no federal emergency. Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission.”

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen argued on social media that Trump was trying to create a made-for-TV distraction to the country’s other challenges. 

“National Guard soldiers are trained for warfare and natural disasters, not for community policing. Every American should be deeply concerned with what they’re witnessing today,” he wrote. “It might make sense if he’s trying to create compelling TV and distract folks from the real scandals he’s facing, but it doesn’t make our city safer and it’s a dangerous abuse of power and authority.”

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said Trump's order "is a counterproductive use of D.C.'s resources to use for his own purposes," while national politicians from Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland) to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came out in support of D.C.'s right to local governance.

But not every member of the council shared in the blanket criticism of Trump. In a post on Instagram, newly reelected Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White said the National Guard could be helpful – though he did say he opposed a federal takeover of MPD. 

“It’s not popular, but I hear from our senior citizens and they are afraid. I am not against additional support led by D.C. (not a takeover) in the community, especially when AK-47s and 30-40 rounds are prevalent at these crime scenes and MPD numbers are low,” he wrote. “This should also include more after school programs, housing support, career placement, violence interruptors, substance abuse services and more because we can’t arrest our way out of the problem.”

It’s unclear how long the National Guard will be deployed in D.C., and what exactly their responsibilities will be. Trump’s control of MPD, though, is largely limited to a 30-day stretch, unless Congress intervenes to give him more time.

Beyond policing, Trump also said that he would focus federal efforts on clearing homeless encampments and “getting rid of slums here,” though there was no clarification as to what that meant. 

Bondi, meanwhile, set high expectations for the end result: “Crime in D.C. is ending, and ending today,” she said.

Bowser pledged to make the so-called emergency as productive for D.C. as possible, while limiting any negative outcomes.

"I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster," she said. "We are going to do our level best to maintain the trust that D.C. residents have in us. What would be a disaster is if we lose communities, [they] won’t call the police, or talk to the police if a crime is committed. We’re going to work every day to get this emergency put to an end and continue to do our work."