(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Donald Trump has promised an aggressive crackdown on homelessness and violent crime in Washington, D.C., after spotting encampments during his motorcade route to his golf club, according to reports.
The president took to Truth Social on Sunday to demand that homeless people leave the capital “immediately,” sharing images of tents and individuals sleeping outdoors. According to The Guardian, the pictures were taken as Trump traveled from the White House to Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
One image showed tents pitched along a highway on-ramp about a mile from the White House, while another depicted a person lying outside the American Institute of Pharmacy Building.
A White House official told Politico that Trump’s push stems from his dissatisfaction with the city’s appearance. “What it really is is the president has been driving around D.C. and has seen the filth and has seen the squalor himself, and he wants to make it more beautiful and more safe,” the official said.
Trump has scheduled a Monday morning press conference to unveil his plan, which includes deploying the National Guard. The New York Times reports that the U.S. military is preparing troops despite data from the Metropolitan Police Department showing violent crime in D.C. dropped 35% from 2023 to 2024 the lowest level in over 30 years.
According to Reuters, hundreds of troops may be activated for duties such as protecting federal agents or performing administrative work to allow more law enforcement officers to patrol the streets.
“It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World. It will soon be one of the safest!!!” Trump declared in a follow-up Truth Social post, vowing his plan would “essentially, stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.”
The White House confirmed to NPR that 450 federal officers were deployed on Saturday, including 120 FBI agents working overnight shifts to assist police with carjackings and other crimes, per The Washington Post.
Trump’s focus on D.C. intensified after the assault of Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, in an alleged carjacking. Two Maryland minors were arrested. Trump has since threatened to “take federal control of the city” and called for juveniles to be tried as adults.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser disputed Trump’s claims, telling MSNBC the city is “not experiencing a crime spike” and calling Guard deployment “not the most efficient use” of resources.
On Monday morning, Trump doubled down: “Washington, D.C. will be LIBERATED today! Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR… D.C. is next!!!”
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