Trump Declares 'Liberation Day' in DC, Takes Federal Control of Police to Crack Down on Crime

President Trump has fulfilled his promise to start cracking down on crime in the nation's capital. The president says crime in Washington is out of control, so he's using the federal government to take charge and go after criminals. 

The president is calling it "Liberation Day in D.C." But D.C.'s mayor is pushing back.

The president is calling up the National Guard in the nation's capital, saying it's needed to crack down on crime there. "I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse," he announced on Monday.

President Trump, who has been critical of D.C.'s crime rate for years, is temporarily taking control of the D.C. police after a former government staffer who used to work for Elon Musk was violently attacked in an attempted carjacking, according to authorities.

"We're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back. Under the authorities vested in me as the President of the United States, I'm officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act—you know what that is—and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control," he said.

Sources say officials from the Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and U.S. Park Police have been dispatched to the District—along with 120 FBI agents.

The president also suggested trying teenagers as young as 14 as adults.

"This dire public safety crisis stems directly from the abject failures of the city's local leadership," Trump said. "The radical left City Council adopted no cash bail. By the way, every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster. That's what started the problem in New York. And they don't change it."

WATCH President Trump Address the Nation

City leaders are pushing back against the president, citing police data that shows crime in the nation's capital is down seven percent since last year. Violent crime in D.C. hit a 30-year low in January.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here—but it won't be because there's a spike in crime."

But NBC-4 in Washington reported last month that a D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district. The report also said the police union claims supervisors in the police department manipulate crime data to make it appear violent crime has fallen considerably compared to previous years.

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Meanwhile, the Council on Criminal Justice reports crime is still a serious problem in the nation's capital, stating, "The homicide rate over the past year in DC (from July 2024-June 2025) was 10% higher than it was during the similar period (July 2018-June 2019) before the pandemic."

And the White House contends that D.C. has the fourth-highest homicide rate in the nation, nearly six times higher than New York City and higher than other major cities like Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.

CBN White House correspondent Kelly Wright says in addition to his move against crime, the president is also focusing on cleaning up the city. He told reporters his administration is removing homeless people from under bridges and public spaces, like public parks throughout the city. He says his efforts are to make D.C. safe and beautiful again.

And Trump's efforts to crack down on crime will apparently not end in D.C.—the president says his efforts will extend to other cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore.