Donald Trump’s latest plan to “clean up” Washington, D.C., has sparked fierce backlash and intensified calls for impeachment.
On Monday, the former president unveiled a sweeping crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, insisting there would be no “Mr. Nice Guy” approach. His plan includes ordering the homeless to “move out IMMEDIATELY” and deploying the National Guard for a 30-day federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
“Before the tents, squalor, filth, and crime, it was the most beautiful capital in the world. It will soon be that again,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Casting D.C. as a “sanctuary for illegal alien criminals” rife with “lawlessness,” Trump claimed the city’s homicide rate surpasses Bogotá and Mexico City—despite official data showing violent crime is at a 30-year low. He cited Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to justify the federal intervention, with 800 National Guard troops now patrolling the streets, according to Politico.
The most controversial element: Trump’s declaration that officers can “do whatever the hell they want” when confronted with hostility.
“That’s the only language they understand,” he told reporters. “You spit, and we hit, and they can hit real hard.”
The aggressive rhetoric and unprecedented federal action have drawn sharp criticism from city officials, civil rights groups, and political opponents, reigniting debates over presidential authority and the rule of law.
‘Unsettling and Unprecedented,’ Critics Say of Trump’s D.C. Crackdown
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the move “unsettling and unprecedented,” though she added it was “not totally surprising” given Trump’s past rhetoric.
Online, critics slammed the action as authoritarian. “The Trump police state is upon us,” wrote one Reddit user. Others described the remarks as “evil” and a blueprint for escalating police violence, warning it normalizes the idea that law enforcement can act with impunity.
Legal Questions Mount Over Los Angeles Precedent
The D.C. intervention comes amid legal scrutiny over Trump’s prior use of the National Guard during immigration protests in Los Angeles this June—an unprecedented federal deployment carried out without the governor’s consent.
California officials argue the move violated the core principle that states control their own National Guard units, calling it “a clear violation of the most fundamental principles of our Nation’s founding.” The administration, however, maintains the action was legal under existing statutes.
For Trump, the message is unmistakable: “This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”