By President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will personally join law enforcement officers and National Guard troops on patrol in Washington, DC, as his administration deepens its unprecedented federal takeover of the city’s public safety operations.
“I’m going to be going out tonight with the police and with the military, of course,” Trump told radio host Todd Starnes. The decision represents the most visible step yet in the White House’s effort to assert direct federal authority over the nation’s capital, which Trump has repeatedly described as a city in collapse, beset by crime and disorder.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump CONFIRMS he’ll be patrolling the streets of DC tonight with police and National Guard
Someone PLEASE get videos of Trump throwing cuffs on at least a FEW illegals while yelling “LOCK ‘EM UP!” 🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/3l7YrDeuNS
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 21, 2025
The announcement follows Trump’s order last week placing the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal oversight—an extraordinary assertion of executive power, according to The Washington Post. Although a federal judge blocked the administration’s bid to install its own leadership at the department, the White House has pressed ahead with deploying federal agents across the city and empowering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain individuals, a move that upends the District’s long-standing posture as a “sanctuary city.”
Administration officials credit the surge in federal officers with cutting crime, pointing to daily arrest figures as proof that the intervention is working.
Boom!! Crime in DC is dropping like a rock.
– 0 homicides in 7 days
– Carjackings down 83%
– Robberies down 46%
– Violent crime down 22%Stopping crime just takes political will. President Trump just proved that. What will other blue cities choose? pic.twitter.com/VCB7uWEnFi
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 21, 2025
Local leaders dispute that claim. At a Thursday press conference, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser defended the DC police department’s record, noting that violent crime had already fallen sharply before the federal intervention.
“Our police department has been consistently precipitously driving down crime for the last two years,” Bowser said, describing local efforts as “effective.” She criticized an order from Attorney General Pam Bondi requiring city officers to coordinate with federal agents, arguing that it was “almost exclusively focused on immigration enforcement and homeless encampment enforcement,” not the city’s broader safety challenges. “I’ll let you draw your own conclusions,” she added.
The dispute unfolds against a backdrop that complicates the city’s narrative of safety. On July 18, Commander Michael Pulliam was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of crime data manipulation in his district, which includes Adams Morgan. According to police union chairman Gregg Pemberton, officers were directed to reclassify serious felonies—shootings, armed robberies—into lesser categories to “sustain the appearance of improvement.” Calling the city’s reported 25% drop in violent crime “unbelievable,” Pemberton accused senior officials of “cooking the books.” Chief Smith has vowed an internal investigation; Pulliam denies wrongdoing.
The DC Police Union said they stand by the president’s action, citing poor leadership by DC officials.
.@DCPoliceUnion Chairman Gregg Pemberton: "We completely agree with the President that crime in the District of Columbia is out of control and something needs to be done with it." pic.twitter.com/Kr5zZtW5kG
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 11, 2025
Trump’s plan to personally join patrols comes after a series of highly publicized moves by his administration. Vice President JD Vance recently visited Union Station to thank National Guard units stationed in the city, underscoring the administration’s commitment to maintaining a federal presence.
In just the past 9 days, we've seen a 35% reduction in violent crime and a 50% reduction in robberies because of President Trump's leadership.
Glad I could stop by Union Station and thank the countless National Guardsmen busting their asses to clean up our nation's capital. pic.twitter.com/Gx509bHP2U
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 20, 2025
Democrats have responded by demanding that Washington become a state so that they can get two more senators in a city that votes roughly 95 percent Democratic. If they achieved that goal, however, DC would have the highest homicide rate of any state in the country—at least before the president decided to clean up the capital of crime.
[Read More: Dems Facing ‘Death Cycle’]
