World

Donald Trump seizes control of Washington DC police, deploys National Guard

Trump’s team issued charts alleging Washington had a higher homicide rate than Baghdad, Bogotá and Mexico City, which the president branded “the worst places on earth”.

Like many US cities, Washington has historically had problems with homicide, robbery, carjacking, assault and other crimes.

There have been high-profile examples this year: the shooting of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May, or last week, the bashing of a prominent Department of Government Efficiency aide, Edward Coristine, also known as “Big Balls”.

But statistics from the DC Metropolitan Police show violent crime is trending down after spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic and into 2023.

So far in 2025, homicides are down 12 per cent compared with this time in 2024, assault with a dangerous weapon is down 20 per cent, and robbery is down 28 per cent.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said Trump’s view of Washington was coloured by the experience of his first term amid the Black Lives Matter protests and later COVID crime wave.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser hit back at Trump, saying violent crime was at a 30-year low.Credit: AP

“It was true that those were more challenging times,” she said. “We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike. Crime isn’t just down from 2023, it’s also down from 2019. We’re at a 30-year violent crime low, [but] we’re not satisfied, we haven’t taken our foot off the gas.”

The District of Columbia, home to the federal government and national monuments, occupies an unusual place in the union. The US Constitution gives Congress power over the “seat of government”, but the bulk of that was delegated to a city council under the Home Rule Act of 1973. Despite being more populous than two US states, DC has no voting representation in Congress, only a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.

The Home Rule Act allows the president to take over the DC police in emergencies for up to 30 days, after which he would need congressional approval. Trump has appointed the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, as interim police chief, and jokingly warned he would sack Cole in two weeks if he was “too soft”.

George Derek Musgrove, a historian at the University of Maryland who wrote a book on Washington’s history, said the present circumstances did not constitute a real emergency – but Trump did have the power to decide.

National Guard troops and the US Capitol Police keep watch on the Capitol in March 2021 amid heightened security.

National Guard troops and the US Capitol Police keep watch on the Capitol in March 2021 amid heightened security.Credit: AP

“Unfortunately, for the city’s sake, the law leaves the determination of whether the city is experiencing an emergency or not to the president,” Musgrove told this masthead.

“The president has already shown his willingness to lie about conditions on the ground in the city to get his way.”

Novak, a lawyer and registered Democrat who is still recovering from his injuries sustained in May, is against Trump taking over the police and deploying the Guard.

He said it was ironic that Congress had cut $US1 billion ($1.54 billion) from DC’s budget just as Trump was pressuring the district to get tougher on crime.

“It seems like they’re trying to create an emergency that they want to use federal force to solve,” he said.

“Historically, this is what fascist governments have done – take national control over enforcement that’s supposed to be at the local level. That’s very scary.”

When Novak was attacked, the police were nearby – out of sight, but close enough to hear his screams. But the neighbours who came to his aid were more helpful than the officers, he said.

Assault victim Novak says better police training – not brute force – is needed in the capital.

Assault victim Novak says better police training – not brute force – is needed in the capital.

He believes better police training is warranted, not brute force.

“I still go out. I still generally feel safe when I go out,” he said.

“Like any city, there are areas that could be improved. But overall, I’m very proud to live in the district, and feel that it already is a very beautiful city – despite whatever’s on the news that they’re trying to magnify.”

Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, also invoked the spectre of the January 6 riots, in which Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election – encouraged by the outgoing president.

“Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department, and zero credibility on the issue of law and order,” Jeffries said.

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