What Trump’s D.C. police takeover means

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On Monday morning, President Donald Trump announced that he is putting Washington, D.C., under federal control and deploying the National Guard to fight crime.

While police data shows a drop in violent crime in D.C. in recent years, Trump said this historic action would “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.” He suggested he could deploy the National Guard in other cities as well, referencing the deployment of Guard troops in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with local reporter Olivia George about this unprecedented move to militarize Washington, D.C.; how some of the city’s residents are already protesting; and what this deployment could mean for cities across America.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson, with help from Laura Benshoff and Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	President Donald Trump is deploying troops to take over the nation's capital.
0:06.0	I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed,
0:12.7	bedlam, and squalor, and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back.
0:22.8	In a Monday press conference, Trump said he was sending the National Guard to patrol the streets of D.C.
0:28.2	He said these troops would fight crime and clear out the city's homeless population.
0:33.2	Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving
0:38.1	mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it
0:44.5	happen anymore.
0:45.5	We're not going to take it.
0:50.7	This is an unprecedented move to militarize Washington, something Trump says is necessary because of the city's crime rates.
0:58.0	But critics say, Trump is wrong.
1:00.8	Here's D.C.'s D.C.'s mayor, Muriel Bowser on MSNBC on Sunday.
1:04.3	We are not experiencing a crime spike.
1:07.9	And city residents are already protesting.
1:10.7	Free D.C. Free D.C. Free D.C. This is not about crime. This is about control.
1:20.8	This is not about public safety. This is about power.
1:29.8	From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports.
1:34.0	I'm Colby Ickowitz. It's Monday, August 11th.
1:37.7	Today, we talk about Trump's aggressive move to seize power in Washington, D.C.
1:43.5	Most people think of it as the seat of the federal government, but is also home to about 700,000
1:49.6	people, myself included.
1:52.1	We'll talk with local reporter Olivia George about what Trump's takeover is going to look
	...

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