Trump orders increased federal law enforcement presence in Washington to
'make DC safe again'
[August 08, 2025]
By WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that there will be
increased presence of federal law enforcement in the nation's capital to
combat crime for at least the next week, amid President Donald Trump 's
suggestions that his administration could fully take over running the
city.
“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent
crime for far too long," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence
of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens.”
She added that the increased federal presence means “there will be no
safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”
Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be
returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the
Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are
examining — but could face steep pushback.
“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” Trump told reporters at the
White House this week. “We have to run D.C.”
The White House said the increased law enforcement would “make D.C. safe
again” and would be present on the streets starting at midnight — led by
U.S. Park Police following an 11 p.m. Thursday roll call at an
established command center.
The push will last the next seven days with the option to extend “as
needed," under the authority of Trump’s previous executive order
establishing the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The added
federal officials will be identified, in marked units and highly
visible, the White House said.
Participating law enforcement include personnel from the U.S. Capitol
Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective
Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal
Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the
U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of
Columbia.
The police forces for Amtrak and the city's Metro rail service are also
involved.
However a two-hour tour of the D.C. streets, starting around 1 a.m.
Friday morning, revealed no evidence of the sort of multi-agency flood
of uniformed personnel described in Trump’s announcement. There was a
robust, but not unusual, Metropolitan Police Department presence in
late-night hot spots like 14th Street and along Florida Avenue. But
there was no overt or visible law enforcement presence other than the
MPD.
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President Donald Trump departs an event to mark National Purple
Heart Day in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 7,
2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump has long suggested crime and violence is on the rise in
Washington, and has lately begun to criticize things like litter and
graffiti. But the catalyst for the order to increase police presence
was the assault last weekend on a high-profile member of the
Department of Government Efficiency by a group of teenagers in an
attempted carjacking.
The victim, Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” was among the
most visible figures of DOGE, which was tasked with cutting jobs and
slashing the federal bureaucracy. Police arrested two 15-year-olds
and say they’re still looking for other members of the group.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no
choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City
how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not
going to get away with it anymore,” Trump posted on Truth Social
earlier this week.
The president subsequently said he was considering repealing
Washington’s limited Home Rule autonomy or “bringing in the National
Guard, maybe very quickly.”
Thursday's announcement comes as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s
government can claim to have reduced the number of homicides and
carjackings — both of which spiked citywide in 2023.
Carjackings in Washington overall dropped significantly the
following year in 2024, from 957 to just under 500, and the number
is on track to decline again this year — with less than 200 recorded
so far more than halfway through 2025.
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