Trump to take control of MPD, deploy National Guard

President and his administration say nation’s capital overrun with crime

President Donald Trump announced plans to wrest control of the Metropolitan Police Department and said he will dispatch 800 D.C. National Guard troops to patrol the city’s streets.

In a press conference Monday, the president — flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other administration officials — claimed the moves were necessary with Washington overrun by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth.”

Data shows violent crime is falling, not rising, in D.C. The city’s Metropolitan Police Department reported a 30-year low in 2024 with rates dropping by an additional 26 percent in early 2025, and homicides down 12 percent year-over-year…

Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth, told the Blade “I’m definitely concerned about the future for the LGBTQ+ community here in the District.”

“Overall, we’ve been seeing an unprecedented scale of attacks on the community from the federal government,” Toledo said. “So, an overtake of the District of Columbia, which has long been a safe haven for members of our community, is definitely concerning.”

Read more in the Washington Blade here.