Updated Aug. 8, 2025, at 12:48 p.m.
The White House announced Thursday night that it will deploy federal law enforcement officers across D.C. starting at midnight for at least the next seven days.
Federal officers from a slew of agencies including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service will patrol the District starting at midnight in an attempt to reduce crime in a city President Donald Trump has repeatedly called unsafe. The White House announcement follows a March executive order aimed at curbing crime in the city and numerous threats by Trump to “take over” the District if it doesn’t get crime under control, and comes just days after a former Department of Government Efficiency employee was allegedly beaten by group of assailants in an attempted carjacking.
“President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “There will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation’s capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world.”
The White House said troops will be in marked vehicles and highly visible units, but did not say how many troops it would deploy across the District. Units will be focused on “high tourist traffic” areas and other “known hotspots,” per a White House official. The U.S. Park Police will lead the effort.
The presence will start at midnight on Thursday and is set to last a week, though White House officials said they could extend it.
Agencies that the White House will deploy include personnel from the U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, per a White House official.
The White House is not reported to be deploying the Metropolitan Police Department or the D.C. National Guard. It is currently unclear how the federal agencies will collaborate with MPD and other local agencies. Trump has authority to control the Metropolitan Police Department for an initial 48 hours and for 30 days after informing Congress, though the power has never been invoked. As president, Trump is also Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. National Guard.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office and the White House press office didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Local leaders in wards 6, 7 and 8 said they received an email from the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia that federal law enforcement would make a “concerted effort” to clear unhoused encampments in those areas early Friday morning. The email states OAG warned local hospitals, including Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health, that they could expect a “surge” of patients in the emergency department starting at midnight.
Trump’s threats against the District ramped up last week after DOGE ex-staffer Edward Coristine was allegedly assaulted, which prompted the president to threaten to put the city under federal control. Trump said Wednesday he was “considering” taking over the MPD following the incident.
“If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Since 1973, the District has enjoyed home rule, which gives the city limited self governance by allowing D.C. residents to elect a mayor and city council, but the Constitution still gives Congress the power to repeal local D.C. laws. Trump has floated the idea of repealing home rule throughout his second term, which would take an act of Congress.
In March, Trump signed an executive order “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” which set up a task force made up of members from several federal agencies to coordinate with the MPD and other local law enforcement agencies to ensure the District is complying with federal immigration law and keeping crime under control. The order states the task force may help deploy a more “robust federal law enforcement presence” in the District and lists the National Mall, Rock Creek Park, the George Washington Memorial Parkway and other areas that may face additional presence.
The order also calls for the removal of all homeless encampments, which has led to a spike of clearings in the District, including at 23rd and E Streets and near Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway in Foggy Bottom.
Trump has long criticized D.C. as being a haven for crime, but violent crime in the District is down 26 percent this year and in 2024 reached a 30 year low. In 2023 violent crime in the city peaked with 274 homicides, compared to 190 in 2024.
In Trump’s first term, he called on federal agencies and the D.C. National Guard to patrol the city during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and 2021. The D.C. National Guard also occupied Foggy Bottom in January, 2021 during former President Joe Biden’s inauguration after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
This post was updated to include comment from the White House.
