Donald Trump has taken an extraordinary step in his strategy to militarize Democratic-controlled cities under the guise of imposing law and order. The President of the United States has ordered the deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and placed the capital's local police force under his direct command as part of a plan he calls"liberating" the city of homeless people and crime. In addition, agents from the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) will reinforce night patrols and assist local police in combating street crime, which Trump claims—contradicting official data and the impression of many residents—has turned the capital into a lawless city.

"We're going to deploy the National Guard to help restore law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C., and they're going to be allowed to do their jobs properly," the president said at a White House press conference on Monday, accompanied by his spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said the initial deployment will be 800 troops, a number that could be increased if deemed necessary.

The takeover of the Metropolitan Police will last 30 days, the White House later confirmed.

The data refutes Trump's claims. Violent crime decreased by 35% in 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching its lowest levels in the past 30 years, according to a Department of Justice report released in January.

The president's announcement is ironic considering that on his first day in office he signed a pardon for all participants in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a horde of his supporters broke into the headquarters of Congress to try to prevent Joe Biden's electoral victory from being confirmed and keep Trump in the presidency.

Some 140 police officers were injured that day and 15 required hospitalization, according to data from police associations. In a comment on the social network X, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House of Representatives, recalled that on that day Trump delayed deploying the National Guard while the Capitol was under siege. In her opinion, with this Monday's announcement the president wants to"distract from his incompetent management of tariffs, health care, education and immigration, to name just a few of his failures."

“I'm going to meet with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin… I don't like being here talking about how unsafe, dirty, and filthy this once beautiful city is, with graffiti on the walls everywhere,” he added. “We're also going to get rid of the slums.” To underscore Washington's supposed level of danger, he lashed out at Mexico and Bogotá: “The homicide rate today is higher than that of Mexico City or Bogotá or some of the so-called worst places in the world.”

The deployment announced for the US capital is similar to the one Trump also ordered for the California National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles last spring, arguing that protests against raids to detain illegal immigrants had gotten out of control and represented a national emergency.

This Monday, a court is scheduled to hear a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, against that decision. Newsom argues that the deployment violates the law prohibiting the use of the Armed Forces for law enforcement purposes.

The National Guard is under state control. However, although the 1973 Home Rule Act grants it a certain level of autonomy, Washington only has district status, and its detachment reports directly to the president, not a governor.

“It's Liberation Day in Washington, and we're going to take back our capital,” Trump asserted. “You don't want to be robbed, raped, and killed” in the US capital, he added. But now, “when you walk the streets, you're going to be very calm. You're going to see the National Guard, you're going to see a lot of police.”

Before the press conference, the president announced his intention to take this step in a series of messages on his social network, Truth.

“Washington, D.C., will be LIBERATED today! The crime, savagery, filth, and scum will BE GONE. I will MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN!” the Republican tweeted early this morning.

In his statement, Trump, who boasts of having"fixed" the immigration problem on the southern border, emphasized that the capital was his"next target."

The US president has a complicated relationship with Washington, D.C., a city under Democratic control that has voted en masse against him in every election. During his first term, he bought the former post office headquarters, which he converted into a luxury hotel, only to sell it after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election at the hands of Joe Biden. Both then and now, he has accused the capital of being a dirty, run-down place dominated by street crime.

His criticism appears to have intensified after a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, the agency headed by billionaire Elon Musk to cut federal spending, was the victim of an attempted robbery. The former employee is Edward Coristine, 19, who became famous by his pseudonym on social media, “Big Balls.” Almost immediately, local police in Washington arrested two teenagers, residents of neighboring Maryland, for the attempted robbery. Trump made explicit reference to the incident on Monday: Coristine, he emphasized,"was covered in blood... thought he was going to die" when he was attacked.

In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed concern about the potential deployment of National Guard troops. “They’re not police officers,” she argued. “I don’t think it would be the most efficient use of our Guard.”

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump announced he would expel the homeless from the capital. “The homeless will have to leave, IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote. “We will give them places to stay, but AWAY from the Capital. Criminals will not have to leave. We will put them behind bars, where they belong.”