WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump pledged on Sunday to evict homeless individuals from the nation’s capital and jail criminals, regardless of Washington’s mayor arguing there isn’t any present spike in crime.
Whereas particulars of the plan had been unclear, the administration is getting ready to deploy tons of of Nationwide Guard troops to Washington, a U.S. official instructed Reuters, a controversial tactic Trump used just lately in Los Angeles to deal with immigration protests over the objections of native officers.
Trump has not made a remaining determination, the official mentioned, including that the variety of troops and their function are nonetheless being decided.
In contrast to in California and each different state, the place the governor usually decides when to activate Guard troops, the president immediately controls the Nationwide Guard in Washington, D.C.
Previous cases of the Guard’s deployment within the metropolis embody in response to the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
“The Homeless have to maneuver out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on his Fact Social platform. “We offers you locations to remain, however FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to maneuver out. We’re going to place you in jail the place you belong.”
The White Home declined to elucidate what authorized authority Trump would use to evict individuals from Washington. The Republican president controls solely federal land and buildings within the metropolis.
Trump plans to carry a press convention on Monday to “cease violent crime in Washington, D.C.” It was not clear whether or not he would announce extra particulars of his eviction plan then.
There are 3,782 single individuals experiencing homelessness on any given evening within the metropolis of about 700,000, says the Group Partnership, a corporation working to scale back homelessness in D.C.
Most such people are in emergency shelters or transitional housing, slightly than on the road, it says.
A White Home official mentioned on Friday extra federal legislation enforcement officers had been being deployed within the metropolis following a violent assault on a younger administration staffer that angered the president.
Alleged crimes investigated by federal brokers on Friday evening included “a number of individuals carrying a pistol with out license,” motorists driving on suspended licenses and filth bike driving, a White Home official mentioned on Sunday.
The official mentioned 450 federal legislation enforcement officers had been deployed throughout town on Saturday.
The town’s police division says violent crime was down 26% in D.C. within the first seven months of 2025, in contrast with final 12 months, whereas general crime was down about 7%.
The Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, mentioned on Sunday the capital was “not experiencing a criminal offense spike.”
“It’s true that we had a horrible spike in crime in 2023, however this isn’t 2023,” Bowser mentioned on MSNBC’s the Weekend. “We’ve got spent during the last two years driving down violent crime on this metropolis, driving it right down to a 30-year low.”
Bowser mentioned Trump was “very conscious” of town’s work with federal legislation enforcement after assembly him a number of weeks in the past within the Oval Workplace.
The U.S. Congress has management of D.C.’s funds after the district was established in 1790 with land from neighboring Virginia and Maryland, however resident voters elect a mayor and metropolis council.
For Trump to take over town, it’s possible that Congress must move a legislation revoking the legislation that established native elected management.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Nandita Bose and Idrees Ali in Washington; Enhancing by Matthew Lewis and Clarence Fernandez)