Declaring Monday “Liberation Day in DC,” President Donald Trump announced he will place the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital to address what he called “out-of-control” violent crime.
“This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump told reporters during a White House press briefing. “We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the pPresident of the United States. I’m officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act … and placing the DC Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.”
The mainstream media disparaged his move, with the New York Times declaring crime is not as bad as the president makes it out to be.
The president’s decision marks a rare use of federal authority to override the city’s local control of its police force, a move allowed under the Home Rule Act in extraordinary circumstances. Trump said the step was necessary after violent crime in the city reached levels he described as “shocking and unacceptable for our capital.”
The plan will see 800 National Guard members immediately mobilized to assist law enforcement operations, including patrols in high-crime areas, securing transportation hubs, and conducting joint operations with federal agencies. The National Guard deployment will remain in effect “until law and order is fully restored.”
Recent crime statistics show a significant spike in homicides, carjackings, and assaults across the District, with some neighborhoods reporting year-over-year increases of more than 50%.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a statement condemning the federal takeover as an “undemocratic and politically motivated stunt,” arguing the city’s police and public safety agencies were already working to address the crisis.
“This is about control, not safety,” Bowser said. “D.C. residents deserve self-governance, not a federal occupation.”
Trump countered that the city’s leadership had “failed its citizens,” pointing to repeat offenders being released quickly and the inability of local law enforcement to curb organized criminal activity.
The Metropolitan Police Department, now under the operational command of the U.S. Department of Justice, has not yet commented publicly on the transition.
The last time a U.S. president exercised similar powers over D.C.’s police was during the civil unrest of the late 1960s. Legal experts note that while the Home Rule Act permits such a move in emergencies, it is almost never invoked, making Monday’s action one of the most significant federal interventions in the District’s modern history.
