In an effort to make the nation’s capital safer, President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would deploy the National Guard and place the Washington, D.C., police department under federal authority.
Prior to his press conference, the president said that he has signed a presidential memorandum and an executive order in the Oval Office.
In one executive order, Washington’s police department was taken over by the president using his authority under the Home Rule Act.
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Additionally, he signed letters to DC Mayor Bowser and pertinent congressional leaders that the administration said were statutorily needed.
A presidential memorandum that instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to station the National Guard in the nation’s capital was also signed by Trump.
Trump wrote in a social media post that he would hold a White House news conference on Monday to discuss his plans to make the District of Columbia “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”
Ahead of that news conference, Trump said Monday on social media that the nation’s capital would “LIBERATED today!” He said he would end the “days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people.”
For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects a next step in his law enforcement agenda after his aggressive push to stop illegal border crossings. But the move involves at least 500 federal law enforcement officials, raising fundamental questions about how an increasingly emboldened federal government will interact with its state and local counterparts.
Combating crime
The president has used his social media and White House megaphones to message that his administration is tough on crime, yet his ability to shape policy might be limited outside of Washington, which has a unique status as congressionally established federal district. Nor is it clear how his push would address the root causes of homelessness and crime.
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About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation’s capital as part the Trump administration’s effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.
More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are also contributing officers.
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn’t immediately have a comment Monday morning.
Focusing on homelessness
Trump in a Sunday social media post had emphasized the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”
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Last week, the Republican president directed federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option “to extend as needed.”
On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than 120 officers and agents to assist in Washington.
Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal govern