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On Sept. 2, President Donald Trump held a press conference in the Oval Office, addressing various media issues, including what some are referring to as the “federal takeover” of Washington, D.C. This conference followed an official memo sent on Aug. 11 to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, titled “Restoring Law and Order in the District of Columbia.”
In the memo, Trump said that the local government had “lost control of public order and safety in the city,” leading to the invocation of constitutional law to deploy the National Guard. Initially, 800 members of the District of Columbia National Guard were mobilized to address crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration.
This directive came after the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department reported the lowest violent crime rate in over 30 years in 2024, according to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in D.C. Nearly a month after the order was enacted, Hegseth authorized National Guard troops to carry firearms. The presence of these forces has sparked protests and prompted community meetings.
D.C. resident and vlogger Rob Perez noted confusion among different agencies regarding protocols. In addition to the National Guard, 500 federal law enforcement officers from various agencies—including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, Border Patrol and the Secret Service—have begun joint patrols in D.C.
In his Sept. 2 address, Trump praised the positive impact of federal agencies in D.C., claiming credit for the opening of new restaurants. “It’s a safe city. And this city was really bad, really, really bad,” he said. “We took 1,600 hardcore criminals out, and they will not be coming back anytime soon. We’re very proud of it.”
The president has indicated a willingness to extend these deployments to other cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York. During the conference, he emphasized the need for increased policing in Baltimore and Chicago, comparing Chicago’s danger levels to those of Afghanistan. Furthermore, he claimed that African-American residents of Chicago are requesting the National Guard’s presence.
Regarding Baltimore, Trump criticized the local police, stating that they are “woke and too weak to lift guns out of holsters.” He reiterated that addressing violent crime has been a priority since his campaign and claimed that recruitment numbers for the armed forces have increased during his administration.
