President Donald Trump declared a public-safety “miracle” in Washington, D.C., saying the district has logged no homicides for the past week following his order to deploy National Guard troops, federal agents and assume temporary control of the Metropolitan Police Department. Visiting a U.S. Park Police facility in the city’s Anacostia neighborhood on 21 August, Trump told several hundred officers that their presence had turned the capital into “a different place” and asserted that overall crime is down 87 percent since the crackdown began. The president warned Mayor Muriel Bowser to stop releasing what he called “false and highly inaccurate crime figures,” threatening a “complete and total” federal takeover of the city if she does not comply. He added that similar interventions could be extended to Chicago and New York. Trump also said he would launch a year-long effort to repair and clean up the capital’s parks and infrastructure. District officials dispute the president’s portrayal. City data show Washington experienced several homicide-free stretches earlier this year—including a 16-day period from late February to mid-March—before the federal intervention. Local leaders say violent crime has been trending lower since a spike in 2023, while civil-rights advocates criticize the expanded stop-and-frisk patrols and immigration arrests reported under the federal operation. The Justice Department is examining allegations that the Metropolitan Police Department previously under-reported certain offenses, a probe Trump has cited to justify his takeover. Protests against what critics call heavy-handed tactics continued near federal patrol sites this week, underscoring the political and legal battles likely to follow the president’s unprecedented assertion of control over the nation’s capital.