Donald Trump’s newest plan to “restore order” in Washington, D.C. has triggered intense criticism and renewed demands for impeachment.
On Monday, the former president unveiled a broad law enforcement initiative targeting crime in the capital, vowing to abandon any “Mr. Nice Guy” approach. Among the actions: a demand for the immediate removal of homeless encampments and a 30-day federal control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department through National Guard deployment.
“Before the tents, filth, and crime, it was the most stunning capital in the world. It will be again soon,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Painting the city as a haven for “undocumented criminal aliens” and rampant disorder, Trump claimed D.C.’s murder rate exceeds that of Bogotá and Mexico City—despite crime data showing the lowest violent crime levels in three decades. He cited Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to justify the move, with 800 National Guard members now deployed, according to Politico.
But perhaps the most explosive part of the announcement: Trump said police can “do whatever the hell they want” when confronted.
“That’s the only thing they understand,” he said to reporters. “You spit, we strike. And they’ll strike hard.”
‘Shocking and without precedent’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the action as “shocking and without precedent,” though “not entirely unexpected” given Trump’s prior statements.
On social media, critics decried the move as authoritarian. “The Trump police state is happening,” one Reddit user commented. Others called the rhetoric “disturbing” and “a blueprint” for expanded police brutality, warning that it reinforces the idea that law enforcement should have unchecked power in confrontational situations.
Legal concerns around LA intervention
This D.C. operation comes amid an ongoing legal challenge to Trump’s use of the National Guard during immigration protests in Los Angeles earlier this summer—an unprecedented act done without the state governor’s approval.
California leaders argue the move undermined the core principle of state control over their own Guard units, calling it “a blatant violation of the basic tenets of American federalism.” The Trump camp defends the action as lawful under current legal frameworks.
Trump, however, framed the moment in bold terms: “This is freedom day in D.C. We’re taking our capital back.”
