Trump declares ‘Liberation Day’ in D.C., calls in National Guard

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

“Liberation Day” arrived Monday in Washington, D.C., as declared by President Donald Trump.

The president declared a crime emergency in the district and said the National Guard will soon patrol the streets in an effort to curb crime.

Trump said the district has “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”

“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” said the president. “We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the President of the United States. I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Rule Act.”

Flanked by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and U.S. Attorney of the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, the president announced that he is invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to take federal control of Metropolitan Police Department while deploying the National Guard, with threats more military could be called in to assist.

Trump tapped Bondi to take operational control of the Metropolitan Police as part of an executive order, citing “out of control” violence in the nation’s capital.

The president pointed to several examples of violence, including former Trump administration official Mike Gill, who was shot and killed in D.C. as part of a carjacking spree in 2024.

As part of the press conference, the White House released a fact sheet showing the district’s 2024 murder rate per 100,000 in comparison to other nations’ capitals. America led the pack, nearly double second-place Bogota, Columbia, followed by Mexico City, Mexico and Islamabad, Pakistan.

Trump and Pirro underscored the district’s issue with youth crime.

“Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons are getting worse,” the president said.

“No more teenage girls beating a disabled man to death,” Pirro told reporters.

The president and Pirro say young offenders often face minimal consequences, suggesting that current laws are too lenient on juvenile offenders.

“If they’re under 18 years of age, I can only get the case if it’s murder … rape,” said Pirro. “Even if they shoot a gun but don’t kill you, I can’t get it. So the law has to be changed.”

Trump indicated that 800 D.C National Guard would be put in place, adding that Hegseth is prepared to bring in other National Guard units if necessary.

The president’s announcement comes as some Republicans are pushing to repeal the Home Rule Act.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced the legislation in February, saying the decision came in response to the “mayor and City Council’s failure to prevent violent crime, corruption, and voting by noncitizens.”

The duo tied the title of the legislation to Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser. The Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act can be shortened to the BOWSER Act.

The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 was enacted by Congress and ratified by D.C. voters. The act gave the district residents limited autonomy over local affairs, allowing them to elect local leaders, including mayors and council members.

Critics of the president’s move to federalize the district’s police department and deploy the National Guard point to statistics showing the crime rate improving.

The Metropolitan Police Department reports that crime is on the decline. The violent crime rate dropped 35% between 2023 and 2024, according to the department, while property crimes were down 11% between 2023 and 2024. Overall, the district saw a 15% reduction in crime between 2023 and 2024.

Despite the president’s increasing law enforcement presence in the city, he acknowledged the large number of police with some jurisdiction in the district, including about nearly three dozen federal law enforcement agencies.

Not long after Trump held his press conference, Bowser addressed the president’s announcement.

She acknowledged the district’s limited autonomy under the Home Rule Act and added that she doesn’t control the D.C. National Guard.

Bowser defended the district, saying she believes the president’s “view of D.C. is shaped by his COVID-era experience during his first term.”

She added that there was a crime spike after COVID-19, echoing crime statistics showing that crime is declining.

“My message to residents is this, we know that access to democracy is tenuous,” Bowser told reporters. “That is why you have heard me and many, many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood for the District of Columbia. We are American citizens. Our families go to war. We pay taxes and we uphold the responsibilities of citizenship. And while this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised.”

Signs reading “keep D.C. free” are on overpasses in northern Virginia appearing to protest the president’s latest action.

In addition to tackling crime, the president added that his administration will crackdown on homelessness and step-up plans to beautify the district, including refurbishing infrastructure.