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President Donald Trump is weighing the issue of whether to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. as early as this week.
The plan comes a day after Trump pledged a true society to drive homeless people out of the country’s capital. “The homeless have to leave immediately,” Trump said on social media. “We give you a place to stay, but you’re far from the capital. Criminals, you don’t have to move. We’ll put you in prison where you belong.”
Trump’s plans, expected to be further detailed at a 10am press conference on Monday, will likely involve members of the DC National Guard, or 2,700 National Guard members acting on the explicit authority of the commander.
Unlike other branches, Trump does not need to get a local government sign-off.
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President Donald Trump will be seen at the White House Oval Office on Monday, May 5, 2025 in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office last week, Trump opposed what he called a “silly” level of crime in the country’s capital, which was recently mitigated by attacks on former Doge staff earlier this month.
“We want to have great, safe capital,” Trump said last week. “And we’re going to get it.”
Trump also said his White House lawyers are considering ending the Home Rules Act. The law passed by Congress in 1973 gave Washington, D.C. the right to elect his mayor and local representatives.
White House press chief Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week that Trump ordered law enforcement officials to increase their presence in the capital, but details of the scope of its existence and additional time frame remain unclear.
Trump is expected to address these plans at a press conference Monday morning.
But for Trump, delivering on this promise could plague him with long-term legal complications. This is because crime in the city has actually reached its lowest point in nearly 30 years.
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Birds are silhouetted as they fly around the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial and the U.S. Capitol on Election Day in Washington, DC on November 8, 2016.
Data compiled by the DC Police Department and released earlier this month shows that violent crime in the first seven months of 2025 fell by about 26% compared to 2024. Overall, crime in the country’s capital fell by about 7%.
On Sunday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said in an interview with News Nation that Washington, D.C. is “more violent than Baghdad.”
“Comparisons with war-torn countries are hyperbolic and false,” Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told MSNBC in an interview on Sunday.
But it’s not the first time Trump has tried to crack down on Capitol crime. This is an effort that has returned frequently, including his first term in office.
The company for public broadcasting sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday to prevent the termination of the three board members. (Reuters/Ra Milis)
In March, Trump signed an executive order to “create a safe and beautiful task force for DC.” It is designed to address urban issues that he has long been “filthy”, “running horrible”, “being attacked by crime”. “We want to have great, safe capital,” he told reporters. “And we’re going to get it. And it includes cleanliness and that includes other things.”
However, these powers are not indefinitely, experts explained to Fox News Digital.
Trump has the authority to activate the DC National Guard from 2,700 members without the approval of local officials. The Guard provides “mission-ready personnel and units for active duty in armed services” in Washington, D.C., according to its website.
Beyond that, Trump’s ability to exercise authority in the country’s capital is bound by the Home Rules Act.
Over the course of more than 50 years since the law was passed, “we really had no serious conversations about ending home rule governance,” George Derek Musgrove, a history professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, told Fox News in an interview.
“And the problem with our federal system is that there are places where Trump really doesn’t have supporters, so there are limits to enforcement, so it doesn’t really shake that much,” Musgrove said. “And he’s always researching ways to avoid that.”
Other options available to Trump are not without its own limitations. According to laws in the 1970s, the president must be able to assert “a special situation of urgency,” as Trump suggests, as Trump suggests.
“If DC hasn’t put together its actions, and soon, there’s no choice but to take control of the federal government,” Trump said last week.
However, an individual with laws told Fox News Digital.
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“DC is an attractive target because there isn’t even the legal exercise you have to do to exert your incredible power. [in a city with ]90% democratic jurisdiction. He already has it,” Musgrove said.
“But I think that’s morally questionable and it violates democratic principles,” he added.
Breanne Deppisch is a national political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the Trump administration, focusing on the Department of Justice, the FBI and other national news.
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