National Guard troops started arriving in Washington on Tuesday to begin enforcing President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the city’s law enforcement and security. They’re part of an 800-member deployment ordered by the administration.
Trump announced on Monday that he would activate the guard and take over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, citing a crime emergency in the city.
Speaking ahead of the National Guard troops’ arrival, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president’s emergency proclamation “is only the beginning.”
She said: “Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law, undermines public safety, and endangers law-abiding Americans.”
Leavitt said Tuesday that the addition of National Guardsmen to the federalized D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) would assist to “end violent crime in our nation’s capital as part of the President’s massive law enforcement surge.”
Leavitt said that approximately 850 police officers “were surged” across the city on the evening of Aug. 11 ahead of the National Guard’s arrival. They made nearly two dozen arrests.
The move is part of a push by the administration toward “beautification” of the capital city as well as the crackdown on crime.
“President Trump … is going to make our nation’s capital the most beautiful and safe city on Earth, just as he promised on the campaign trail,” Leavitt said.
On Aug. 10, Trump condemned crime and homelessness in Washington, saying that if changes weren’t made to local policy, he would federalize policing in the city—some of his first hints of the planned policy.
“Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control,” Trump wrote in a Sunday post on Truth Social. “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.”
In another post on Truth Social, Trump shared several photos showing tents and garbage on the streets in areas around the capital, saying, “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
“The Criminals, you don’t have to move out,” Trump added. “We’re going to put you in jail where you belong. It’s all going to happen very fast, just like the Border.”
Trump suggested that local policies be changed to allow criminal offenders as young as 14 to be tried as adults. Currently, the youngest a person can be charged as an adult in the federal district is 15 years old.
After his threats to federalize policing in the city, Trump on Aug. 11 declared that a crime emergency existed in the district, and announced that he would take command of local police.
“Rising violence in the capital now urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure transportation and the proper functioning of the Federal Government,” Trump wrote.
He described Washington as being “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people.”
To reinforce the message, the White House published graphics showing the city’s homicide rate at 27.54 per 100,000 in 2024, compared to a homicide rate of 15.1 per 100,000 in Bogotá, Colombia, during that same period, and a homicide rate of 10.6 per 100,000 in Mexico City.
Although the U.S. capital’s crime rate remains high, recent statistics indicate it has been on the decline.
Crime statistics released by the MPD indicate that the overall crime rate fell by 7 percent since the start of the year, with homicide down 11 percent, all violent crime down 26 percent, and all property crimes down 4 percent.
Meanwhile, an MPD police commander has been placed on leave after the crime statistics came under scrutiny from the D.C. Police Union.
The MPD has already carried out at least 23 arrests in the city, Leavitt said, on charges including homicide, firearms offenses, possession with intent to distribute narcotics, fare evasion, lewd acts, stalking, possession of a high capacity magazine, fleeing to elude in a vehicle, no permits, driving under the influence, reckless driving, and a bench warrant.