In a fiery news conference President Trump announced “we’re going to take our capital BACK” (Watch) “We’re declaring a public safety emergency in the District of Columbia — and Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment.” (Watch)
At the press conference Trump declared a “public safety emergency” in D.C., explaining that the capital city “has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”
“And we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump said, invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control, and activating the National Guard Breitbart reported.
“You’re going to see police, or you’re going to see FBI agents — going to have a lot of agents on the street,” Trump said. “You’re going to have a lot of, essentially, military. And we will bring in the military if it’s needed. By the way, we’re going to have National Guard, but Pete Hegseth will tell you about it. We will bring in the military if needed.”
“People say, ‘Oh, that’s so terrible.’ … It’s been many times over the years. I don’t think we’ll need it. I think we’ve got so many great people, including the people that are in the police department, with proper leadership, they’ll immediately begin massive enforcement operations targeting known gangs, drug dealers and criminal networks to get them the hell off the street, maybe get them out of the country, because a lot of them came into our country illegally,” Trump said, eventually asking Hegseth to deliver a few remarks.
“At your direction this morning, we’ve mobilized the D.C. National Guard. It will be operationalized by the Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, through the D.C. guard. You will see them flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week,” Hegseth explained as he previewed the expected deployment.
Here are the facts justifying the President’s decision:
- In 2024, Washington, D.C. saw a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents.
- That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country — nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.
- If Washington, D.C. was a state, it would have the highest homicide rate of any state in the nation.
- In 2012, the homicide rate in Washington, D.C. was just 13.9 per 100,000 residents.
- Washington, D.C.’s murder rate is roughly three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-run Havana, Cuba.
- The number of juveniles arrested in Washington, D.C. has gone up each year since 2020 — many of whom have had prior arrests for violent crimes.
- There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, D.C. last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies, and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts.
- So far in 2025, there have already been nearly 1,600 violent crimes and nearly 16,000 total crimes reported in Washington, D.C.
- There have been nearly 100 homicides, including the fatal shootings of innocent civilians like three-year-old Honesty Cheadle and 21-year-old Capitol Hill intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.
- Vehicle theft in Washington, D.C. is more than three times the national average — ranking it among the most dangerous cities in the world.
- These statistics are not only troubling on their own, but they also likely significantly understate the level of crime in Washington, D.C.
- Metro Police Department leadership are allegedly cooking the books to make crime statistics appear more favorable.
- Many residents don’t feel safe reporting crime.
- More than half of all violent crime in the U.S. goes unreported in the first place.
- WUSA-TV: “D.C. residents voice frustration over rising violence, questioning police stats and demanding real action to make neighborhoods feel safe again.”
- Home rule
- Washington DC
- crime
- public safety emergency
- Attorney General Pam Bondi
- criminal gangs
- federal control
- DC police department
- National Guard
- Pete Hegseth
- DC National Guard
