Trump announces deployment of National Guard in Washington, D.C.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced at a White House press conference on Monday that he is deploying the National Guard to help restore law and order and public safety in Washington, D.C. 

Trump also said that he has officially invoked the Home Rule Act to place the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. 

"This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back," Trump stated.

Trump stated that his administration sent 500 federal agents into the district last week, including personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Park Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security.

The president also told reporters he plans to expand the policy to other cities, highlighting New York and Chicago. Unlike the 50 states, Washington has a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its independence and gives Congress significant control over local issues.

Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has enabled residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city's budget. 

Since Trump's return to the White House, he has repeatedly criticized violent crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C., blaming the local government for poor management and threatening a federal takeover of the district.

In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., defended the capital's safety, saying, "we have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low." A Gallup poll in October found that 64 percent of Americans believed crime had increased in 2024, even though FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crime nationwide in more than half a century.

Ahead of the news conference, Trump posted on social media that he also wants to address homeless encampments after signing an order last month making it easier to arrest homeless individuals. 

He promised to provide people with "places to stay," but "FAR from the Capital." Trump said criminals would be jailed, and that it would all happen "very fast."

(With input from agencies)