Trump Deploys National Guard to D.C. While Threatening A Federal Takeover

President Donald Trump said Monday he was deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to D.C., which he claims is out of control and overwhelmed by crime and homelessness — an account disputed by city officials and police data. 

The deployment comes after Trump has repeatedly threatened to “federalize” D.C., which he cannot do unilaterally. Only Congress could place D.C. under the federal government’s control by overturning the Home Rule Act of 1973, which allows residents to elect their mayor and council members.

It marks the second time Trump has deployed National Guard troops since taking office just over 200 days ago. As with his deployment of the California National Guard in Los Angeles earlier this year, Trump’s use of the military comes against an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

In announcing the deployment Trump said his administration was just starting with D.C.

“We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have of course Baltimore and Oakland,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let it happen. We’re not going to lose our cities over this. This will go further. We’re starting very strongly with D.C.”

The president later directly threatened other cities, saying they could be targeted if “they don’t learn their lesson.”

In addition to deploying the Guard, Trump said he was placing D.C.’s police under federal control. 

Section 740 of the Home Rule Act allows the president to take over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) “whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.” However, the authority is limited to no more than 30 days.

The section has never been invoked before.

Before the press conference, Trump claimed in a social media post that D.C. would be “liberated.” 

“I will, MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN! The days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER! I quickly fixed the Border (ZERO ILLEGALS in last 3 months!), D.C. is next!!!,” Trump said.

Last year, violent crime in D.C. fell to a 30-year-low, according to a Department of Justice report released earlier this year.

The report, based on Metropolitan Police Department data, found that compared to 2023 figures, homicides were down 32%, robberies had fallen 39% and assaults with a dangerous weapon decreased by 27%.

Trump’s deployment of the National Guard comes after a group of teens assaulted a former Department of Government Efficiency employee in D.C. earlier this month. A police cruiser arrived as the assault was in progress and two suspects were arrested on charges of unarmed carjacking.

As part of Trump’s crackdown, numerous federal agents have been reassigned to D.C., including as many as 120 FBI agents for nighttime patrol duties.

“We are seeing in real time why DC needs the full power and protection of statehood,” Free D.C., a movement created to protect Home Rule and promote statehood for the district, said in a statement after Trump’s press conference.

“Deploying the National Guard to a state without a request from state leaders is unlawful. The fact that he could do it in the capital city is a massive vulnerability to our entire national democracy,” it added.

Flanked by MPD Chief Pamela Smith and other city officials, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in a press conference Monday defended the city’s control of its police department, noting that crime has fallen since a spike in 2023.

“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented,” Bowser said, “I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we are totally surprised.”

Bowser said the D.C. attorney general was exploring a possible legal response, though the mayor acknowledged that the Home Rule Act gives the president the ability to take over the police temporarily.

Smith, the D.C. police chief, said she was willing to work with the Trump administration.

“We have a responsibility to support the executive order and one of the roles I have is to ensure that we work very collaboratively with our federal partners,” Smith said.

During Monday’s press conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said D.C. National Guard troops “will begin flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming weeks.”

Hegseth added that the Pentagon was prepared to deploy “other National Guard units, other specialized units” to the city as well.

“They will be strong. They will be tough. And they will stand with their law enforcement partners,” Hegseth said.

The deployment is a continuation of the Trump administration’s effort to blur the lines between the military and civil law enforcement agencies. 

Experts have previously told Democracy Docket that the Trump’s administration’s desire to use military units alongside police undermines federal law barring the government from using military personnel in civilian law enforcement.

As with his deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, Trump in sending troops to D.C. is relying on a theory of executive authority called the “protective power.”

The theory asserts that presidents using troops to protect federal personnel, property and functions do not violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits using active duty personnel to execute laws.

Later on Monday, a trial is set to convene in California over whether Trump’s use of the military in Los Angeles violated Posse Comitatus.