Trump is invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act that places the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.

The influx came the morning after the Republican president announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the District’s police department, something the law allows him to do temporarily.

His remarks come even as violent crime rates in the nation’s capital have fallen since hitting a peak in 2023. Speaking directly to reporters, Trump claimed they were ‘victims of it’ too, adding: ‘You don’t want to get mugged and raped and shot and killed.