US President Donald Trump said Monday he will deploy military and federal law enforcement in Washington as he seeks to curb violent crime in the nation's capital.

The Republican leader told a White House news conference he plans to place the DC Metropolitan Police under the direct control of the federal government while sending in the National Guard.

The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offenses are down.

"This is Liberation Day in DC, and we're going to take our capital back," Trump said.

Trump — a convicted felon who has pardoned around 1,500 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren't tough enough. 

He has repeatedly threatened a federal takeover of the city of 700,000, saying crime in Washington was "totally out of control." 

The new approach echoes Trump's immigration policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.

The president told reporters he planned to roll out the policy to other cities, spotlighting problems in New York and Chicago.

Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.

Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city's budget.

"There's absolutely no need for the National Guard here," Elizabeth Critchley, 62, said at a protest outside the White House. "It's all for show. It's just a big theater."

Data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.

Crime is 'ending'

Trump posted on social media ahead of the news conference that he also wants to tackle homeless encampments, after signing an order last month making it easier to arrest homeless people.  

Trump ordered homeless people to "move out" of the city in a Truth Social post on Sunday, vowing to "make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before."

He promised individuals "places to stay," but "FAR from the Capital." Trump said criminals would be jailed and that it would all happen "very fast."

Federal law enforcement have already increased their presence after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was beaten during an attempted carjacking. 

"Last week my administration surged 500 federal agents into the district including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the US Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security," Trump said.

"You know a lot of nations, they don't have anything like that... They made dozens of arrests."

A Gallup poll in October found that 64 percent of Americans believed crime had risen in 2024, although FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crime nationwide in more than half a century.

"Let me be crystal clear — crime in DC is ending, and it's ending today," said Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was among several cabinet members flanking Trump.

Trump called Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser a "good person who has tried" at the weekend but added that she had been given "many chances" to improve living standards.

Bowser has not criticized Trump over his threats to stage a federal takeover, insisting instead that she plans to focus on their "shared priorities."