On Monday, President Donald Trump announced a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., prior to revealing that he will deploy an unspecified number of National Guard troops to assist in patrolling the city.
Furthermore, Trump — accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi — stated his intention to collaborate with Congress to amend current laws and policies in crime-affected U.S. cities such as Chicago, which have abolished cash bail.
Trump remarked, “This severe public safety crisis is a direct result of the complete failures of the local leadership in the city. The ‘radical left’ city council has implemented no cash bail. Notably, every location in the country that has eliminated cash bail is facing disaster. That is the root of the issue.”
CNN pointed out that the capital of the nation effectively abolished cash bail decades ago, in 1992.
“We are going to put an end to that in Chicago,” Trump asserted. “We will modify the statute, and I will need to secure Republican votes, as the Democrats are ineffective on crime.”
“We will change the no cash bail policy. We will revise the statute and eliminate some other regulations, and we will rely on the Republicans in Congress and the Senate to support this,” Trump further stated.
Additionally, Trump announced the appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as the interim federal commissioner of the DC Metropolitan Police Department. The president praised Cole as one of the “best in the country” and instructed him to manage the department “firmly.”
“I am officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, as you are aware, and placing the DC Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal oversight,” Trump informed the gathered reporters.
He stated that his actions arise from a situation that is “out of control, but we will swiftly regain control, similar to what we accomplished on the southern border.”
“I am deploying the National Guard to assist in restoring law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C., and they will be permitted to perform their duties effectively,” Trump further remarked.
The 1973 Home Rule Act grants the president the authority to take command of Washington, D.C.’s police force for a maximum of 48 hours if he “determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist,” necessitating the department’s utilization for federal purposes.
Until now, there has been no federal takeover of the D.C. police under the Home Rule Act.
The legislation permits the president to prolong control beyond the initial 48 hours by informing the chairs and ranking members of the congressional committees overseeing D.C. affairs, although it remains uncertain whether Trump has taken this step.
Any request to extend control for more than 30 days must receive Congressional approval through legislation, as reported by CNN.
On Sunday, Trump pledged on Truth Social to remove homeless individuals from the nation’s capital. “The Homeless must vacate immediately,” Trump stated. “We will provide you with accommodations, but they will be FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you are not required to leave. We will incarcerate you where you belong.”
“We aim to create a great, safe capital,” Trump informed reporters last week. “And we will achieve it.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters last week that President Trump had instructed law enforcement to enhance their presence in the nation’s capital, a deployment anticipated to last at least a week.
On Sunday, Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff at the White House, stated in an interview with NewsNation that Washington, D.C., “is more violent than Baghdad.”
In response, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not an ally of the president, countered that characterization during her appearance on the left-leaning MSNBC, asserting: “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.”