President Trump dropped a political earthquake on Washington, D.C. Monday, invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to take direct federal control over the city’s police department and effectively strip the Democrat-led municipal government of its autonomy.
In a fiery press conference at the White House, Trump framed the move as “Liberation Day in D.C.,” pledging to clean up what he described as a once-proud capital now drowning in crime, chaos, and public disorder.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs, and homeless people,” Trump declared. “We’re not going to let it happen anymore.”
The president announced that the National Guard and FBI will be deployed to patrol the streets, particularly at night. Fox News reports that as many as 1,000 Guardsmen could be called up in the coming days. FBI agents already began fanning out across the city overnight to assist in enforcement operations.
Trump said his decision came after personally witnessing D.C.’s decline during his daily commutes. “The Homeless have to move out, immediately,” he posted earlier on social media. “We will give you places to stay, but far from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”
Under the Home Rule Act, D.C. operates with limited self-government, but Congress retains ultimate authority. Section 740 grants the president unilateral power to take control of local policing in times of emergency. Unlike in the states, Trump does not need Mayor Muriel Bowser’s approval to mobilize the D.C. National Guard’s 2,700 members.
The president also signaled that this is just the first step, revealing his intent to abolish the Home Rule Act entirely and return Washington to full federal governance. “We want to have a great, safe capital,” he said. “And we’re going to have it.”
Predictably, the move ignited a political firestorm. Over the weekend, White House adviser Stephen Miller compared D.C. to “Baghdad” on NewsNation, blaming the city’s leadership for allowing it to fall into disorder. Mayor Bowser shot back on MSNBC, calling the comparison “hyperbolic and false.”
For now, the capital is under a new chain of command — and Trump’s message to criminals, gang members, and vagrants is clear: their days of roaming D.C. freely are over. The real test will be whether this unprecedented federal takeover restores safety to America’s capital or triggers a deeper constitutional showdown.
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