President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping expansion of federal law-enforcement activity in Washington, D.C., assigning about 120 FBI agents to overnight street patrols and activating National Guard troops as part of what the White House calls the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.” The FBI personnel—drawn largely from the bureau’s Washington Field Office—began joint patrols with the Metropolitan Police Department over the weekend. Federal patrols are slated to move to round-the-clock coverage starting Wednesday night. A White House official said some 150 Guardsmen supported hundreds of agents on Tuesday, part of an activation of up to 800 Guard members whose role is limited to logistical support and crowd control, not arrests. The surge brought the combined presence of federal and local officers on the streets to roughly 1,450 on Tuesday night, when authorities reported 43 arrests and the seizure of seven illegal firearms, more than doubling the previous night’s tally. Offenses ranged from outstanding assault warrants to driving under the influence. Trump has threatened to assume formal control of the city’s police force, a power a president may exercise for up to 30 days under local statute; any extension would require congressional approval. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith said the added manpower could help plug a shortfall of nearly 800 city officers but pressed the administration for clear benchmarks to measure success. The crackdown follows last week’s attempted carjacking and assault on 19-year-old Department of Government Efficiency employee Edward Coristine and comes despite city data showing violent crime has declined from its 2023 peak, even as car thefts remain elevated. Civil-liberties groups and some lawmakers questioned the precedent of diverting federal agents from counterintelligence duties to street policing, while the White House insists the deployment is needed to make the nation’s capital “safe, clean and beautiful.”