Overview

• At a White House press briefing, President Trump announced an initial deployment of about 800 National Guard soldiers and placed the Metropolitan Police under federal command by invoking the Home Rule Act.
• He ordered homeless residents to leave Washington and said criminal suspects would be jailed, messages he reinforced on his Truth Social platform.
• Roughly 450 federal officers from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies are already patrolling city streets.
• Official figures indicate that violence fell by 26% and overall crime by 7% in the District during the first seven months of 2025.
• Mayor Muriel Bowser denounced the intervention as unprecedented and protests along with legal challenges to the federal takeover have begun.