"You're going to be safe walking down streets": Trump says he will deploy the National Guard to Washington D.C.

After a well-known former DOGE employee was brutally beaten in Washington D.C., President Donald Trump stated that he may deploy National Guard troops "very soon" to fight crime in the nation's capital.

"We're considering it, yeah, because the crime is ridiculous." Trump told reporters Wednesday night. "I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations, and you're not going to want to see what it looks like (...) We want to have a great, safe, capital, and we're going to have it. And that includes cleanliness. And it includes other things. We have a capital that's very unsafe."

Trump's words come a day after he threatened to "federalize" the District of Columbia, which has been partially autonomous since 1973, following the enactment of the Washington D.C. Home Rule Act.

Asked whether he would support a repeal of the legislation, the president said: "We're going to look at that. In fact, the lawyers are already studying it."

He later sharply criticized the current state of the city, including hygiene and public infrastructure problems.

"So, whether you call it federalize or what, and that also includes the graffiti that you see the papers all over the place, the roads that are in bad shape, the medians that are falling down, the median that’s in between roads that’s falling down. We're going to beautify the city. We're going to make it beautiful (...) What a shame. Rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We're not going to let it. And that includes bringing in the National Guard. Maybe very quickly."

Lastly, the president promised that the capital would improve under federal control: “We have to run D.C. This has to be the best-run place in the country, not the worst-run place in the country (...) And it has so much potential, and we're going to take care of it. You're going to be safe. You're going to be safe walking down streets. You're not going to get mugged.”

Trump's furious backlash against D.C. authorities come after the brutal attack on Edward Coristine, nicknamed "Big Balls", who was violently assaulted by ten minors between Sunday night and early Monday morning while trying to help a woman who was being assaulted while in her car. Two 15-year-old minors allegedly involved in the attack were arrested.

Also, the proposal to federalize the nation's capital comes at a time when the perception of violence is high, despite some data showing a reduction in overall crime.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, so far in 2025 homicides were down 13% and overall violent crime fell 26% from 2024. Nevertheless, some figures remain alarming. So far this year, 98 homicides have already occurred in the capital and more than 1,500 violent crimes in general. In the month of May alone there were a total of 20 murders.

Likewise, several media cases —such as the murder of a congressional intern or the homicide of two Israeli embassy officials near the Capitol— have contributed greatly to the perception of insecurity in the streets of the capital.