President Donald Trump announced during a Monday conference at the White House that his administration will take steps to combat violent crime in the District of Columbia, including deploying the National Guard and federalizing police in the district that houses the nation's capital.
"This is Liberation Day in DC, and we're going to take our capital back," Trump said about the plans.
The White House increased the police presence in D.C. recently following the brutal attack of Edward Coristine, a key figure at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), during an attempted carjacking last week.
Trump criticized the amount of violent crime and homelessness in the city and vowed to clean it up.
NBC News was quick to point out that violent crime is down 26% in D.C. compared to last year, but Trump shared statistics that compared it unfavorably to other major cities in the U.S. and around the world.
He mentioned several high-profile incidents by name, including the Coristine attack and the killing of a congressional intern.
Trump also said he would get rid of the "slums" of D.C., and called on the Republicans in Congress to "change no cash bail" to prevent many criminals from being put back on the street after being arrested.
"The radical left City Council adopted no cash bail," he said, reffering to Washington, D.C. "By the way, every place in the country you have no cash bail — it's a disaster."
"Somebody murders somebody, and they're out on no cash bail before the day is out," Trump said.
"We're going to end that in Chicago," he continued. "We're going to change the statute. I spoke with Pam and Todd and everybody. We're going to change the statute, and I'm going to have to get the Republicans to vote, because the Democrats are weak on crime — totally weak on crime."
Trump was joined at the press conference by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other officials.
He said that the city looked "disgusting" and "ugly," which he also wanted to change. "We’re also talking about beautification. We’re the most beautiful, potentially, capital in the world," he said.
It makes sense that Trump would want to fix up the city where he now lives. He tends to want to leave things better than he found them, both in his real estate empire and the country as a whole.
Democrats will be crying about whether it's legal to use the National Guard in this way and to federalize law enforcement, but they are heavily invested in things staying the same despite many promises over decades to make them better. If Trump actually does improve things, it might shake up their voter base so radically that it will never be the same again.
