“I think I’ll be out tonight with the police and the military,” President Trump said. “And we’re going to work.”
Trump declares a public safety emergency in DC and manages police
President Donald Trump has invoked the Home Rules Act to control DC police amid his crime concerns.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said on Thursday night, August 21, he will join law enforcement on the streets of Washington, D.C. amid a federal takeover in DC.
Trump announced an extraordinary plan to patrol with DC police and the National Guard on the Todd Starness radio show.
“I’m going out tonight,” Trump told Starnes. “I’ll keep it a secret. You are the only person you know – you and many of your listeners.
“I think I’ll be out tonight with the police and the military,” the president added. “And we’re going to work.”
The White House said details about Trump’s exterior regarding law enforcement will be released later.
It came 10 days after he ordered 800 National Guard personnel on Washington streets and took action to take control of the city’s police after declaring a local criminal emergency in D.C.
Trump said aggressive measures are needed to combat crime in the city, despite Washington’s violent crime rate falling 26% in 2025 compared to last year.
Joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses and Top White House aide Stephen Miller, Vice President JD Vance stopped by Union Station in Washington on August 20 to thank the National Guard forces, claiming that crime has already fallen dramatically in the country’s capital following the Trump acquisition.
Stephen Miller VilifififififififififififiDc Protesters in Union Station Speech
Stephen Miller, Pete Hegses and JD Vance defended Trump’s DC crackdown and dismissed protesters for racially and politically charged remarks.
However, three Trump administration officials faced heckling from a small group of protesters who chanted “Free DC!” And they produced the noisy drum beats that made them own. Miller chuckled at the protesters as “old white hippies” who didn’t represent DC.
Trump has already welcomed the deployment of the National Guard and efforts to federate the metropolitan police as a huge success, boasting that his efforts support most of the district.
“Even Democrats are calling me and saying, ‘Incredible,'” Trump said of the progress that has come as a result of the DC crackdown. “You know it’s four days, right? And they said it’s unbelievable.”
But residents conducted this week by the Washington, the Washington Post and George Mason University, 79% said they were opposed to Trump’s crackdown on crime in DC, and 65% said they didn’t think it would reduce violent crime.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
