U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to ask the Republican Congress to extend federal control of Washington's police force beyond 30 days, a step in his efforts to expand presidential power in the nation's capital.
Trump also noted that any action by Congress could serve as a model for other cities in the U.S. He has previously threatened to expand his efforts to other Democratic-controlled cities, such as Chicago, which he says have failed to tackle crime.
The Republican president's unusual moves in Washington highlight his approach to a second term in which he is upending political traditions and legal precedents to test the limits of his administration's powers.
It’s unclear how Trump could replicate his takeover of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department elsewhere. When he took control of the department on Monday, he invoked a federal law, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, that allows the president to act in emergency situations for up to 30 days.
Trump has no justification for attempting similar takeovers in other cities, said John P. Fishwick Jr., a former federal prosecutor in Virginia, because he said Washington presents a “unique situation.”
Trump also announced Monday that he would deploy 800 National Guard troops to the city, a tactic he used in Los Angeles in June, when he mobilized thousands of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines over objections from state and local officials in response to protests against his administration’s immigration raids.
In recent days, hundreds of federal officers and agents from more than a dozen agencies have fanned out across Washington.
Trump has described the US capital as a city beset by a wave of crime and housing shortages, even though federal and city crime statistics show violent crime has dropped sharply since a spike in 2023.
Trump said Wednesday that the city's crime statistics are a “total hoax,” without providing any evidence, and that the public will soon see “significant changes” in the numbers.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told FOX Noticias that officials are investigating whether the city manipulated its statistics last year.
Hundreds of officers patrol
The administration of Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, declined to comment on Trump’s latest comments. Bowser has tried to maintain a diplomatic tone in recent days, noting that violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year.
However, when measured by murder rates, Washington remains the most dangerous major U.S. city.
According to crime data collected from 36 of the largest U.S. cities by the independent Washington Council on Criminal Justice, there were about 26 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024. Only four of the 36 cities had higher homicide rates: Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis and St. Louis.
It is unclear what the takeover of Washington's police force means in practice. Police Chief Pamela Smith has characterized the federalization of her department as a partnership with federal law enforcement rather than a direct takeover by the federal government, arguing that she still reports to Mayor Bowser.
More than 1,450 law enforcement officers, including 30 National Guard troops and 750 city police officers, were patrolling Washington on Tuesday night, a White House official said. The White House expects a “significantly larger” Guard presence on Wednesday night, the official said.
The effort has resulted in 103 arrests since Aug. 7, including 43 on Tuesday, the official said. The charges include one count of murder, 33 counts of illegal possession of a firearm and 23 counts of immigration violations. The official said 24 firearms have been seized as a result.
According to police, during the same period in 2024, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested a total of 364 people, including arrests for traffic and alcohol violations, as well as for murder, prostitution, car theft, assault and battery.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
