By James Morley III. Media: Newsmax
Federal agents are planning to increase their presence in the nation’s capital as directed by the Trump administration, officials said on Thursday.
“This has to be the best-run place in the country, not the worst-run place in the country. And it has so much potential,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday.
According to a White House official, increased policing might involve officers from Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, and the National Guard. A D.C. official noted it’s unknown if agents will have duties beyond their usual roles or presence on federal property.
“D.C. residents can expect to see an increase in federal enforcement starting as early as tomorrow,” an administration official said Thursday, noting that operational specifics were still being determined.
“Washington, D.C., is an amazing city, but it has sadly been plagued by petty and violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News in a statement. “President Trump is committed to making our Nation’s capital safer and even more beautiful for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world.”
Data estimates from Congress, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, Statista, and local government statistics showed that D.C. had the highest rate of homicides among 18 national capitals from 2019-2024, with 41 per 100,000. The closest to it was Montevideo, Uruguay, at 16.1, Baghdad at 15.2 and Lagos, Nigeria, at 15.0.
FBI data also showed that juvenile crime against people has steadily increased from more than 100,000 in fiscal year 2020 to more than 400,000 in fiscal year 2024.
The administration is looking into the repeal of the Home Rule Act, a 1973 federal law that gives D.C. residents the power to elect their own mayor and city council members. The president’s increased focus on crime in the nation’s capital comes following the brutal attack of a former DOGE employee who was beaten this week while trying to assist a victim of a failed carjacking attempt.
The president posted on his Truth Social platform Tuesday that “the Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”
“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 added. “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.”
One of the executive orders Trump signed in March was aimed at revitalizing D.C. to “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.” Among the goals of the order is to have federal authorities assist the Metropolitan Police Department to “facilitate the recruitment, retention, and capabilities of its police officers and to facilitate work with Federal personnel, resources, and expertise to reduce crime.”
Discussion about this post