US President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared new initiatives to address homelessness and crime in the nation’s capital, drawing a combative reaction from Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who maintains the city has no crime uptick. In a series of messages on his Truth Social site late Sunday, Trump vowed to move homeless people “FAR from the Capital” and put criminals behind bars. “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” he wrote. Trump said he would also stage a White House press conference at 10 a.m. Monday to announce his plans, vowing to make the District of Columbia “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”
Trump is allegedly planning to activate several hundred National Guard troops for deployment to Washington, D.C., officials cited by Reuters said on Sunday. According to Reuters, the authorities said President Donald Trump had yet to give final approval, but the troops were ready to be sent if ordered. Last week, Trump called for a seven-day deployment of federal law enforcement to Washington, with more than 120 Secret Service, FBI, and US Marshals Service officers and agents supporting local law enforcement. The action came after two teens tried to carjack Edward Coristine, a senior official of the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
ALSO READ: Is Marijuana About To Get Easier To Access In US? What Donald Trump Told Donors At Bedminster
Mayor Disputes Crime Spike Claims
Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back against Trump’s comments, asserting that violent crime has decreased dramatically in 2025. “We did have a horrible spike in crime in 2023, but it is not 2023,” Bowser said to MSNBC. “We have spent the last two years reducing violent crime to a 30-year low. Violent crime in D.C. dropped 26 per cent in the first seven months of 2025 from the same time last year, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, as overall crime fell 7 per cent. Bowser stated the president has legal jurisdiction to overrule city police under some circumstances, but “none of those circumstances exist in our city right now.”