Trump Places Washington, D.C., Cops Under Federal Control

President Donald Trump is promising new steps to tackle homelessness and crime in Washington, including the deployment of the National Guard, prompting the city’s mayor to protest and question who will be patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital, David Klepper reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Trump's move to take over public safety in Washington reflects the next step in his law enforcement agenda following his aggressive push to stop illegal border crossings. (Photo: Washington National Guard Facebook)

Trump said at a recent news briefing that he was “deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C., and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”

The Republican president compared crime in the capital to that in other major cities, claiming Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil, and Colombia, among others.

“We’re getting rid of the slums, too,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. would not lose its cities and that Washington was just the start.

For Trump, the move to take over public safety in Washington reflects the next step in his law enforcement agenda following his aggressive push to stop illegal border crossings.

The plan involves at least 500 federal law enforcement officials as well as the National Guard, raising fundamental questions about how an increasingly emboldened federal government will interact with state and local authorities, Ashraf Khalil, Alanna Durkin Richer, and Michelle L. Price also reported for AP.