On 11/8/2025, President Donald Trump announced his plan to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C. and place the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under direct federal control to address "violent crime".
Trump described the security situation in Washington as "out of control" and pledged that federal forces and the National Guard would soon regain control, as they had done at the southern border.
As Trump held a press conference at the White House to announce the plan, about 200 Washington residents gathered nearby on 16th Street Northwest to protest.
"What Trump is doing has nothing to do with our safety," Keya Chatterjee, leader of Free DC, a group advocating for city autonomy, stated.
Chatterjee believes Trump is implementing this policy because "it's the fastest way to silence dissent and advance his own agenda." "He's not doing this to fight crime, but to take over Washington and silence us," she added.
However, Lamont Mitchell, a longtime Washington resident, disagrees with Chatterjee.
Mitchell lives in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood east of the Anacostia River. While he considers Trump's plans regarding the homeless "inhumane," he welcomes the idea of safer streets.
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Homeless people sit in a bus shelter in Washington, D.C., on 11/8/2025. Photo: Reuters |
Homeless people sit in a bus shelter in Washington, D.C., on 11/8/2025. Photo: Reuters
He shared that he avoids certain areas when driving home for fear of stray bullets. He has stopped visiting some dangerous neighborhoods and, after having his car stolen, is considering buying a gun for self-defense.
"As a senior citizen in Washington, I need to feel safe," said Mitchell, 69, president of the Anacostia Coordinating Council. "We have to take decisive action when necessary."
The predominantly Democratic Washington, D.C. is the latest city where Trump has deployed the National Guard since taking office. In June, he sent Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles to control protests against immigration raids.
This time, Trump claims the deployment is to "help restore law, order and public safety" to the city.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized Trump's intervention as "alarming," unprecedented, and unfounded. City officials cited police statistics showing that violent crime in the capital decreased 26% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, reaching a 30-year low in 2024.
However, Washington still struggles with a higher violent crime rate than similarly sized cities, according to the AH Datalytics Real-Time Crime Index. Residents are accustomed to news of violence, mostly occurring in the predominantly low-income, Black eastern part of the city.
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FBI agents, federal agents, and Washington police patrol the streets on the evening of 10/8/2025. Photo: Reuters |
FBI agents, federal agents, and Washington police patrol the streets on the evening of 10/8/2025. Photo: Reuters
Residents are also used to a heavy police presence. Washington currently has about 50 law enforcement agencies, from the MPD to lesser-known forces like the zoo police, FBI police, and Federal Reserve police.
After Trump's decision, National Guard soldiers, FBI agents, and ICE personnel will patrol Washington's streets, but residents are unsure if they will make a significant difference.
"I'm quite skeptical of what the Trump administration is doing. The 11/8/2025 announcement is clearly just a way to appease his supporters," said Brian Strege, head of the Navy Yard neighborhood in Washington. The Navy Yard is known for its complex security situation, with groups of youths often gathering in the summer, setting off fireworks, and harassing passersby.
The president plans to take over the MPD for 30 days, ending just as schools reopen. Strege noted that these groups typically disband around that time.
"30 days from now is September, when juvenile crime decreases, like every year. So they'll likely pretend the drop in crime is due to this massive deployment. I really don't see it being helpful. I think the Washington police have actually done a pretty good job in the past few years," Strege explained.
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A crowd protests the National Guard deployment plan in Washington, D.C., on 11/8/2025. Photo: Reuters |
A crowd protests the National Guard deployment plan in Washington, D.C., on 11/8/2025. Photo: Reuters
Last weekend, several teenagers entered the Navy Yard, resulting in a shooting. The following day, Edward Daniels, another neighborhood commissioner in the area, saw ICE agents patrolling the streets and, at one point, stopping some young people on bicycles.
Daniels expressed unease about the ICE presence, questioning whether these agents know how to patrol the city and coordinate with the MPD.
"This could make the situation even more chaotic, creating situations even more dangerous than what we're currently seeing," he said.
Across the Anacostia River, Sandra Seegars, a longtime anti-crime activist, welcomes Trump's plan. Her Congress Heights neighborhood has one of the city's highest murder rates. She is pleased to see federal agents in a nearby park.
"Trump will make me feel safer. I think he's doing the right thing. He should have done this a long time ago," Seegars said.
Duc Trung (According to The Guardian, AP, The Washington Post)
