Aug 9, 05:00 AM

Trump Orders Federal Police Surge in DC, Warns of Takeover

President Donald Trump ordered a week-long surge of federal law-enforcement officers onto Washington streets beginning late on Aug. 7, saying the move is needed to curb what he called “out-of-control” violent crime. Agencies including the U.S. Park Police, FBI, DEA and ATF are patrolling high-traffic areas in marked units, with an option to extend the deployment, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The action followed days of threats by Trump to “federalize” the U.S. capital after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer, Edward Coristine, was injured in an attempted carjacking. Trump has said he is considering deploying the National Guard and taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department if local officials do not “get their act together.” Even as the president intensifies federal involvement, a grant notice shows his administration plans to cut Washington’s security funding by $20 million, or 44 percent—the largest reduction for any U.S. city. Trump also announced a White House press conference for Monday that he claims will “essentially stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.” District crime statistics complicate the president’s narrative: violent offenses are down 26 percent so far this year and stand at their lowest level in three decades, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Legal scholars note that dismantling the city’s limited self-rule, established under the 1973 Home Rule Act, would require congressional approval, raising questions about how far Trump can go without new legislation.