President Donald Trump on Monday said he will deploy hundreds of National Guard troops and assume temporary federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department to address what he called a “public safety emergency” in Washington, D.C. The White House initiative, announced at an afternoon briefing, comes amid a series of high-profile assaults and robberies in the nation’s capital and is intended, the president said, to “re-establish law, order and public safety.” Standing alongside the president, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro promised an immediate crackdown on violent crime, focusing on offenses committed by teenagers. Pirro argued that current District statutes let most offenders under 18 avoid adult charges—federal prosecutors may intervene only in cases of murder, first-degree robbery or rape—leaving what she called “young punks” effectively immune even when firearms are used. “That changes today,” she said, urging Congress to scrap D.C.’s no-cash-bail policy and broaden federal jurisdiction over juvenile gun crimes. The administration said it will seek legislation to tighten sentencing guidelines and make it easier for federal authorities to prosecute juvenile offenders. Trump framed the move as a constitutional obligation to keep the capital safe, while Pirro warned that federal law-enforcement resources will now be directed at repeat violent offenders of any age. Local officials and civil-rights groups had yet to respond to the proposed overhaul late Monday.