Trump starts 800 national guards in Washington

Security

Trump starts 800 national guards in Washington

Donald Trump wants to make the US capital safer and more beautiful. For this he uses unusual means.

Due to supposedly sprawling crime in Washington, US President Donald Trump uses the national guard in the US capital. The city’s police should be put under federal control, said Trump. Initially, 800 national guards should be used, if necessary he wants to mobilize even more emergency services.

The White House published a corresponding decree in which the local police are now supposed to trade on the instructions of Justice Minister Pam Bondi. The minister is close to Trump. The US President based his decree on a corresponding law that transfers the local police control in the emergency. The aim of the whole campaign is to restore public security.

The National Guard is a military reserve unit and part of the US armed forces. Usually the states have control over the national guard. In national emergencies, the US President can take command. The National Guard can be used, for example, in the case of natural disasters, unrest and emergencies inside. Overall, the United States has more than 325,000 national guards.

According to the broadcaster NBC News, the President may put the city police under federal control for 48 hours before he has to inform the congress. For a maximum of 30 days, he may have the saying about the local police before he has to obtain the consent of the congress.

In the decree, it is also listed as an argument that there is an average of “one of the highest predatory and murder rates among the major cities in the country” in the Federal District. A look at the crime statistics of the local police in the meantime shows a decline in the reported offenses.

According to the local police, the number of violent crimes decreased by a good quarter until the beginning of August of this year compared to the same period last year. The total number of all offenses decreased by seven percent. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of reported crimes also dropped. The public prosecutor’s office of the District of Columbia spoke with a view to 2024 from the year with the lowest value in violent crimes for 30 years.

Trump has been rushing against homeless and criminals in the capital for weeks. “The homeless have to move away,” he wrote on Sunday on his Truth Social platform. He posted photos that show tents and pollution on the roadside. “We will offer you accommodations, but far away from the capital.” According to his words, the city should become safer and more beautiful than ever. He wanted to put criminals into prison.

The public prosecutor of the federal district, Brian Schwalb, showed no understanding of Trump’s campaign. “The government’s measures are unprecedented, unnecessary and illegal,” he wrote on X. There is no emergency due to crime.

Trump, on the other hand, is already targeting the next city where he can imagine such a maneuver. “If necessary, we will do the same in Chicago that is a disaster. We have a mayor there who is completely incompetent,” he said at the press conference.

It is not the first time that Trump uses the national guard in a city. In June, the US President used a total of 4,000 soldiers from the National Guard and 700 marine fans of the regular armed forces in Los Angeles. Most of them have now been ordered. The reason for this was massive protests against the security forces of the US immigration authority ICE. The proportionality of the mission is fought in court.