WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — President Donald Trump has placed the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and ordered National Guard troops into the nation’s capital to address crime. The move sparked immediate pushback from Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Democratic leaders, who called the action “unsettling and unprecedented.”

Trump announced the crackdown during a White House news conference, citing concerns over crime in the city. He appointed Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole to lead the department, reporting to Attorney General Pam Bondi. National Guard troops will also be deployed to assist law enforcement.

The Army said about 800 Guard members will be activated, with 100 to 200 on duty at any time. They will provide administrative, logistical, and physical support. Officials said most troops will not openly carry rifles, but weapons will be available for self-defense if needed.

Mayor Bowser said she and police officials were not informed of the plan before the announcement. She stressed that the city’s police chief will still report to her through the deputy mayor, and the local government will continue operating as usual.

“While this action is unsettling and unprecedented, we are not surprised,” Bowser said. She argued that crime in the city has dropped significantly. “We’re at a 30-year violent crime low,” she said, noting declines from both 2023 and pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Bowser criticized Trump’s view of the city, saying it is shaped by his experience during the COVID-19 era. She also renewed her call for D.C. statehood, pointing to the federal government’s authority over the National Guard and city governance.

D.C. Police Union Chairman Greggory Pemberton backed Trump’s assessment, calling crime “out of control” and citing more than 800 officer vacancies. He agreed that federal law enforcement and possibly the National Guard should help. “Every aspect of our criminal justice system in D.C. is broken,” Pemberton said.

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said the department works with federal partners regularly and will cooperate during the surge. She emphasized that officers will remain visible in neighborhoods and maintain professionalism.

Bowser said all law enforcement officers must be identifiable by uniforms or badges to prevent confusion. “Everybody should follow the law, the police and the community,” she said.

The Democratic Mayors Association accused Trump of politicizing public safety and taking credit for declining crime rates. “Crime is down in most major cities, including Washington, D.C., despite Trump,” the group said in a statement.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland announced plans to introduce legislation to reverse the federal takeover, calling it “a textbook authoritarian maneuver” unrelated to crime reduction.

Under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973, the president can assume certain powers in an emergency. Bowser acknowledged that the law requires her to comply, though D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is reviewing legal options.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the National Guard will begin arriving in the city this week. Troops will operate under Title 32 status, meaning they are federally funded but under local authority, and not restricted by the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits military involvement in law enforcement.

Bowser warned that the takeover is a reminder of D.C.’s limited self-governance. “There are things that, when a city is not a state and not fully autonomous…the federal government can do,” she said.

She pledged to run the city “in a way that makes you proud” despite the federal action. “We haven’t taken our foot off the gas,” Bowser said. “We continue to look for ways to make our city safer.”

Trump’s order has set off a high-stakes political and legal battle over the balance of power in the nation’s capital, even as crime rates trend downward. For now, D.C. residents will see more federal officers and National Guard troops on the streets in the days ahead.