President Donald Trump declared a public-safety emergency in Washington, D.C., on 11 August, invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to place the city’s Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. The measure, announced at a White House briefing, marks the first time a president has used the 1973 law to seize command of the capital’s police force. Under the order, about 800 National Guard soldiers will be activated, according to Pentagon statements cited in multiple news wires, and will augment roughly 120 FBI agents already shifted to night patrols along with other federal law-enforcement personnel. Trump described the deployment as necessary to “re-establish law and order” and called the day “Liberation Day” for the capital. Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi will take immediate command of the MPD, while Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole will serve as interim federal commissioner. The emergency powers run for 48 hours but can be prolonged if the president notifies Congress, and the administration signalled that federal patrols would remain in place for at least a week while conditions are reviewed. The president argued that Washington’s murder rate now surpasses those of Bogotá and Mexico City and that carjackings have tripled in five years. City officials and some lawmakers disputed the rationale, pointing to preliminary MPD data showing violent crime down 26 % this year and overall crime at a 30-year low. Critics, including several members of Congress, called the takeover an unnecessary encroachment on the district’s home-rule authority. Trump indicated the initiative could be replicated elsewhere, naming Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland as potential targets if local governments fail to curb crime. For now, the federalisation of the D.C. police and the National Guard deployment will serve as a test of the administration’s broader law-and-order agenda.