President Donald Trump has moved to tighten federal control over public safety in Washington, D.C., deploying the National Guard alongside federal agents and asserting authority over aspects of the city’s policing. The White House says the action follows evidence that local officials understated crime levels to create “a false illusion of safety.” Trump announced that the city’s crime data is now under federal investigation. Governors in at least six Republican-led states have answered administration requests for troops. Mississippi is sending 200 soldiers, while West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Louisiana and Tennessee have pledged additional contingents that will lift the Guard presence in the capital to more than 1,700 from the 800 already on duty. Guard units—currently unarmed—have begun patrolling at least 10 Metro stations and tourist corridors near federal landmarks. Federal and local authorities say the surge has produced an immediate jump in enforcement. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro reported over 400 arrests during the first weekend of operations, and former FBI official Kash Patel put the running total at 450 by 19 Aug. The D.C. Police Union says robberies fell 46 percent and carjackings 83 percent in the week following the takeover, although the figures have not been independently verified. At the same time, the Justice Department is reviewing allegations that the Metropolitan Police Department downgraded felonies to misdemeanors to improve performance metrics. A recently settled whistle-blower lawsuit and the suspension of a precinct commander for data manipulation are central to the probe, raising questions about the reliability of the city’s published 30-year low in violent crime. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other Democratic officials condemn the federal intervention as politically motivated and legally dubious, noting that city statutes place day-to-day policing under local control. Bowser has joined an ongoing lawsuit seeking to block elements of the takeover, while Republican governors and some neighborhood groups praise the operation as a necessary step to “make D.C. safe again.” The confrontation sets up a rare test of presidential emergency powers over the nation’s capital.