National Guard troops began arriving in Washington, D.C., Tuesday as part of President Donald Trump’s historic federal takeover.
News4 saw members of the D.C. National Guard carrying large duffle bags, backpacks and sleeping bags as they reported for duty at the D.C. Armory during the early morning.
Trump announced he would deploy 800 National Guard soldiers in the District during a White House briefing Monday, saying the action was to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”
Between 100 to 200 soldiers are expected to be out on the streets at any given time. A White House official told NBC News the D.C. National Guard members will be assigned to “protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers and deter violent crime through their presence.”
Trump appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead D.C. police and new Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole to be the interim federal commissioner of the police department. Cole was sworn in at the DEA last month.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called Trump’s directive “unsettling and unprecedented” but said the city would cooperate with the administration to the extent that the law allows.
Bowser will meet with Bondi Tuesday to drill down exactly how the takeover of local police will work, a senior official with the Department of Justice told NBC News. The official said it’s expected to be a “productive” meeting.
Cole met with Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Pamela Smith Monday evening, another federal law enforcement official told NBC News.
Trump painted D.C. as a city of lawlessness, using that as a reason for declaring a public safety emergency.
Bowser and other local officials pushed back on Trump’s characterization, and experts told the News4 I-Team that violent crimes are down.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) statistics show a 26% drop in violent crime this year so far, compared to the same period last year. The beating of a 19-year-old former DOGE staffer during an alleged attempted carjacking by teens appeared to hit a nerve with Trump last week.
Trump ordered federal agents to patrol streets last week and on Monday touted arrests made by federal officers. Federal officers were seen on D.C. streets Monday, including some wearing gear reading “U.S. Border Patrol.”
What’s next?
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the takeover might last or exactly what it might mean. It could also face challenges in court.
During his White House briefing, Trump added, “We will bring in the military if it’s needed” but said, “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
Congress still has power over things like the budget and laws passed by the city council, but would have to repeal the Home Rule Act to expand federal power in the District.
Bowser flatly stated that the city’s hands are tied and that her administration has little choice but to comply. “We could contest that,” she said of Trump’s definition of a crime emergency, “but his authority is pretty broad.”
She also made a reference to Trump’s “so-called emergency” and concluded, “I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster.”
What does Trump’s executive order on D.C. crime say?
In an executive order declaring that “crime is out of control in the District of Columbia,” the president ordered the mayor to “provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes.”
Trump evoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows for the president to take over the Metropolitan Police Department for 48 hours, with possible extensions to 30 days, during times of emergencies. No president has done so before, said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of Washington.
Some key points from the executive order include:
- Declaring that “special conditions of an emergency nature exist that require the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal purposes.”
- Delegates the president’s authority to use D.C. police to the U.S. Attorney General, and directs her to regularly update the president.
- Directs D.C.’s mayor to provide Metropolitan Police Department services “as the Attorney General may deem necessary and appropriate.”
- Says, “the costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice.”
What do other D.C. leaders and residents say?
The D.C. Council criticized the takeover of the police department, saying there is no federal emergency.
“This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority,” Council members said in a statement.
“Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District,” the statement read in part.
D.C.’s police union said it supports Trump’s action.
As the president prepared to speak, crowds gathered on 16th Street NW, not far from the White House. Many of the demonstrators wore black t-shirts with the words “Free DC” in white below the emblem of the D.C. flag. They held up signs saying “#TimeToResist” and “Free D.C. release the Epstein files.”
“I want to be clear that this is not about crime. This is about what Trump is trying to do to D.C. in order to take over D.C. and silence us,” an activist told the crowd.
But not all D.C. residents are against the move to federalize the police force.
“I’m happy Trump is gonna have his department take over the police department. I think it’s needed, I think we will have some results,” said Leroy Thorpe, who founded Citizen Organized Patrol Efforts, a group that patrols the streets of Chinatown doing violence prevention work.
“With the mayor being in power so long, I think she’s kinda used to how things are going. And I think Donald Trump really wants to clean it up. And I’m all for it,” another group member, Jesse McKnight, said.
“These kids are getting out of hand. They been out of hand. Something has to be done. Too many people dying out here, too many innocent people,” COPE volunteer Cheryl Watson said.
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