(NewsNation) — National Guard troops are expected to be on the ground in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday in accordance with President Donald Trump’s law enforcement takeover, a White House official told NewsNation.
The federal government currently controls the district’s police, and it will likely be that way for at least a month.
Trump has portrayed the takeover — which he announced Monday alongside the deployment of 800 D.C. National Guard troops — as a way to curb crime in the nation’s capital. If it lasts longer than 30 days, the move will require congressional approval.
‘Way better than before’: DC residents react to fed takeover
Trump described D.C. as a center of “bloodshed, bedlam and squalor,” despite violent crime numbers on the decline.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” the president told a packed White House press briefing room.
The activated federal troops won’t openly carry weapons, but they will help law enforcement with logistics, an Army spokesperson told NewsNation.
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DC police welcome National Guard, while others protest
Following Monday’s announcement, a rally formed outside the White House opposing Trump’s plans for the congressionally established federal district.
Residents who spoke with NewsNation weren’t sold on the president’s claims of rampant violent crime.
“I think D.C. is already one of the most policed cities in the country, and this is clearly just meant to further brutalize Black and brown people,” said Rebecca, a D.C. resident of 10 years. “Being in the city, small crime is a part of life, you know. You get lots of benefits to city life and you have to deal with a little bit of crime too.”
Violent crime in D.C. is down 26% from last year, according to data from Washington’s Metropolitan Police.
When compared to the district’s peak numbers in 2023, homicides are down 32%, armed carjackings are down 53% and assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 27%.
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Gregg Pemberton, D.C. police union chief, told NewsNation’s “CUOMO” that he and his department are fully on board with the troops’ help.
“I think they will have a big impact on actually being able to make arrests and do investigations. So, we welcome all of this help,” Pemberton said Monday.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, however, called the takeover “unsettling and unnecessary.”
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Trump named New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland as potential places to expand his crackdown.
He didn’t give details on when or how that would happen, but he urged those cities to watch what plays out in D.C. and to clean up their act.
Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is made up of about 1,400 city leaders from across the country, pointed to an FBI report that showed violent crime nationwide dropped 4.5% from 2023 to 2024.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz, Joe Khalil, Sean Noone and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
