Why is Trump sending US National Guard to Washington, DC?

United States President Donald Trump has announced that helium is temporarily taking power of the Washington, DC, constabulary department, portion deploying 800 National Guard troops to the city.

Trump said his actions are needed to “rescue” the US superior from a surge successful crime.

While convulsive transgression spiked successful Washington, DC, successful 2023, information shows it has been falling rapidly since then.

Here is what we know:

What has Trump announced?

During a 78-minute quality conference, Trump announced that the national authorities would instrumentality power of the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan Police Department to code surging crime.

“I’m announcing a historical enactment to rescue our nation’s superior from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said during the league successful which helium was joined by US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who volition oversee the city’s constabulary unit portion it is nether national control.

“This is Liberation Day successful DC, and we’re going to instrumentality our superior back. We’re taking it back,” Trump said.

“Under the authorities vested successful maine arsenic the President of the United States, I’m officially invoking conception 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act… and placing the DC Metropolitan and Police Department nether nonstop national control,” helium said.

He besides announced the deployment of the National Guard.

“I’m deploying the National Guard to assistance reestablish law, bid and nationalist information successful Washington, DC, and they’re going to beryllium allowed to bash their occupation properly,” helium said.

Trump besides said that helium intends to region the capital’s stateless population, but did not supply details connected however the program would beryllium carried out.

What is the Home Rule Act of 1973?

The Home Rule Act of 1973 is simply a US national law that gave Washington, DC, a important grade of self-government for the archetypal time.

Washington, DC, is the spot of the national authorities and the lone US metropolis that is not portion of the 50 states. As a result, it has nary voting practice successful Congress.

For astir a century, up until 1973, the metropolis was tally by 3 presidentially appointed commissioners. That was until then-President Richard Nixon signed the Home Rule Act, enabling territory residents to elite a politician and metropolis council.

But the Home Rule Act besides says the president tin instrumentality power of the city’s constabulary unit if “special conditions of an exigency quality exist”.

This is thing Trump threatened to bash successful 2020, amid nationwide protests implicit the sidesplitting of George Floyd. The city’s constabulary tin beryllium utilized for “federal purposes”.

The president tin usage the DC constabulary unit for 48 hours, oregon up to 30 days if helium notifies Congress.

Trump said helium plans to support the national takeover of the unit going past the archetypal 48 hours, and volition officially pass the due parties.

The politician of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, is adamant that the metropolis inactive has control: “Let maine beryllium clear. Chief Pamela Smith is the main of the Metropolitan Police Department, and its 3,100 members enactment nether her direction.”

“Nothing astir our organisational illustration has changed,” Bowser said. “And thing successful the enforcement bid would bespeak otherwise.”

According to a study by the quality outlet Politico, national instrumentality enforcement officers volition beryllium tasked with protecting national buildings and nationalist monuments.

What bash we cognize astir the National Guard deployment?

According to a connection from the US Army, “between 100-200 soldiers volition beryllium supporting instrumentality enforcement astatine immoderate fixed time”.

“Their duties volition see an array of tasks from administrative, logistics and carnal beingness successful enactment of instrumentality enforcement,” the service said.

The National Guard volition run nether Title 32 status, meaning they stay nether section power but are funded by the national government. In this status, they are not bound by the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars US work members from engaging successful instrumentality enforcement activities.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the Guard would statesman flowing into DC this week.

According to a study by CNN, deployed troops are not expected to openly transportation rifles arsenic they patrol the streets. Instead, they volition astir apt support their weapons nearby, for example, successful their trucks, truthful they tin entree them if indispensable for self-defence, the authoritative said.

Hegseth said the Pentagon was “prepared to bring successful different National Guard units – different specialised units”, but did not connection immoderate further details.

When asked whether the subject would assistance with clearing stateless radical from the city, Hegseth said that the soldiers would assistance section instrumentality enforcement.

“Our occupation is to basal alongside instrumentality enforcement,” helium said.

Why is Trump taking these measures?

In the enforcement order, Trump states that rising violence successful the superior has go an emergency.

The “rising unit successful the superior present urgently endangers nationalist servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts harmless and unafraid proscription and the due functioning of the Federal Government”, the bid states.

“The magnitude of the convulsive transgression situation places the District of Columbia among the astir convulsive jurisdictions successful the United States.”

It besides says that the lawyer wide shall regularly update the president “on the presumption of the peculiar conditions of an exigency quality that beryllium successful the District of Columbia”.

MAKE D.C. SAFE AGAIN 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xJRIcgy4ld

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 11, 2025

According to reports, the determination seems to person been triggered by an battle involving Edward Coristine, a erstwhile Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer and protege of Elon Musk, who antecedently led DOGE. Police accidental 10 teenagers attacked the 19-year-old and his spouse aboriginal connected August 3. Two 15-year-olds were aboriginal arrested and charged.

“If DC doesn’t get its enactment together, and quickly, we volition person nary prime but to instrumentality Federal power of the City, and tally this City however it should beryllium run,” Trump wrote connected his societal media platform, Truth Social, days aft the attack, with an representation showing a shirtless Coristine with what appeared to beryllium humor spattered connected his face, assemblage and trousers.

“Perhaps it should person been done a agelong clip ago, past this unthinkable young man, and truthful galore others, would not person had to spell done the horrors of Violent Crime,” Trump added.

Is DC genuinely facing a transgression emergency?

The politician of Washington, DC, Bowser, questioned the effectiveness of deploying the National Guard to enforce section laws, saying that much backing for prosecutors would marque a much meaningful difference.

At a quality league connected Monday, the politician said that Trump’s cognition of the metropolis was “shaped by his COVID-view acquisition during his archetypal term”.

“It is existent that those were much challenging times related to immoderate issues. It is besides existent that we experienced a transgression spike post-COVID, but we worked rapidly to enactment laws successful spot and tactics that got convulsive offenders disconnected our streets, and gave our constabulary officers much tools,” she said.

According to Bowser, convulsive transgression is present astatine a 30-year debased successful Washington, DC.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser holds a quality league pursuing Trump’s announcement to deploy the National Guard [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]

Washington, DC’s transgression numbers person been questioned aft authorities began investigating claims that immoderate figures were changed to marque the concern look better.

But Bowser has stood by the information and said that Trump’s representation of DC arsenic lawless is wrong.

In January, the Department of Justice reported that convulsive transgression successful the nation’s superior fell 35 percent from 2023 to 2024.

Official transgression statistic from the DC Metropolitan Police Department amusement that convulsive offences declined betwixt 2023 and 2024, and preliminary 2025 information bespeak the trend is continuing.

The information for this twelvemonth shows that homicides person fallen by 12 percent, and assaults with unsafe weapons by 20 percent.

The FBI, however, reported that nationwide convulsive transgression besides fell, by an estimated 4.5 percent successful 2024, compared with 2023.