(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced that he is “going out” with police and military in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to oversee the surge in federal law enforcement and National Guard, who are responding to what he says is a crime emergency in the district.
“I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job,” Trump told radio host Todd Starnes on Thursday.
The president mobilized the National Guard one week ago to assist the police, claiming crime was out of control. Officials have said Guard personnel are not making arrests, only helping to detain people briefly if necessary before handing them off to law enforcement.
Violent crime levels have decreased compared to years prior, down 26% since 2024, a 30-year low, according to crime stats released by the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Trump also told Starnes that the D.C. deployment was “sort of a test” and indicated that they would copy the model in other cities around America.
“It’s working unbelievably, much faster than we thought. We’ve arrested hundreds of criminals, hardline criminals, people that will never be any good,” Trump said.
The president said that he would put Memphis “early” on the list of next cities to patrol.
“And, you know, unfortunately, we have a lot of cities like that. But I love Tennessee. You know, I won Tennessee by many, many, many points. So it was a landslide, far greater than even, you know, the Republican. Republicans do good in Tennessee, but, I mean, my number was like 35 points, and I’m glad you tell me that I can put that early on a list, and I’m sure that people would love it,” he added.
In June, Trump deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids carried out by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the administration, alleging that it violated the Posse Comitatus Act — an 1878 law that prevented the president from using the military as a domestic police force. A ruling has not been issued in the case.
Trump went on to say that he “straightened out crime in four days in DC.” The president also rebuffed criticism about his actions in the nation’s capital.
“And all I do, all they do is they say ‘He’s a dictator, he’s a dictator’ — the place, people are getting mugged all over the place, and they give you phony records, like, it’s wonderful and it’s worse than it ever was, but we’ve got it going. People are so happy. They’re going out to restaurants again,” he claimed.
Trump’s remarks came a day after Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller visited the National Guard at Union Station, where they were drowned out by boos from protesters.
Nearly 2,000 guardsmen from D.C. and six states have been mobilized to support Trump’s mission at the nation’s capital. They remain unarmed at this time, but officials have said they expect that to change.
The troops have been stationed outside many tourist hot spots, including the National Mall and Union Station, where crime incidents are known to be lower than other parts of the city. Trump and other officials have not given a timetable of when the troop deployment will end.
Vance on Wednesday dismissed crime statistics that showed incidents were lower in Union Station. He claimed that they do not report the full scope of crime in D.C.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday criticized the Trump administration’s federal police surge in the nation’s capital, calling it politically motivated and disconnected from crime in the city.
“This doesn’t make sense. The numbers on the ground and the district don’t support 1,000 people from other states coming to Washington, D.C.,” Bowser said.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
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