U.S capital on high alert: Why is Donald Trump deploying troops on a war footing in Washington, DC?

U.S President Donald Trump has ordered federal law enforcers onto streets of Washington, DC. With President Donald Trump calling for a federal takeover of the nation’s capital city, the White House says there will be an increased presence of federal law enforcement on the streets of Washington, D.C., for at least the next week. “We have to run D.C.,” Trump told reporters.

But doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress and could face steep pushback. This was prompted by the attempted carjacking of a DOGE employee nicknamed ‘Big Balls’ by a group of teenagers. Carjackings and homicides are actually down sharply in D.C. after spiking in 2023. A two-hour tour of the D.C. streets, starting around 1 a.m. Friday morning, revealed no evidence of the sort of multiagency flood of uniformed personnel described in Trump’s announcement.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining — but could face steep pushback.


“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” Trump told reporters at the White House this week. “We have to run D.C.”

More Forces in Washington, D.C

The White House said the increased law enforcement would “make D.C. safe again” and would be present on the streets starting at midnight — led by U.S. Park Police following an 11 p.m. Thursday roll call at an established command center.

The push will last the next seven days with the option to extend “as needed," under the authority of Trump’s previous executive order establishing the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The added federal officials will be identified, in marked units and highly visible, the White House said.

Participating law enforcement include personnel from the U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The police forces for Amtrak and the city's Metro rail service are also involved.

Trump has long suggested crime and violence is on the rise in Washington, and has lately begun to criticize things like litter and graffiti. But the catalyst for the order to increase police presence was the assault last weekend on a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency by a group of teenagers in an attempted carjacking.

The victim, Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” was among the most visible figures of DOGE, which was tasked with cutting jobs and slashing the federal bureaucracy. Police arrested two 15-year-olds and say they’re still looking for other members of the group.

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this week.

The president subsequently said he was considering repealing Washington’s limited Home Rule autonomy or “bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly.”

Thursday's announcement comes as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government can claim to have reduced the number of homicides and carjackings — both of which spiked citywide in 2023.

Carjackings in Washington overall dropped significantly the following year in 2024, from 957 to just under 500, and the number is on track to decline again this year — with less than 200 recorded so far more than halfway through 2025.

FAQs

Q1. Who is President of USA?
A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.

Q2. Which is capital of USA?
A2. Capital of USA is Washington, D.C.