Trump Declares Crime Emergency in Washington, D.C.: Federal Takeover of District Policing and National Guard Deployment
On August 11, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14333 in Washington, D.C., declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia, placing District policing under federal control and mobilizing the D.C. National Guard to help keep order in the capital.
Citing Section 740 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act (the Home Rule Act) and 3 U.S.C. 301, the order found that emergency conditions existed and required the Mayor to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes, including maintaining law and order in the District, protecting federal buildings, monuments and property, and ensuring conditions for the orderly functioning of the federal government, for the maximum period allowed under Section 740.
The order delegated the President's Section 740 authority over the Mayor to Attorney General Pam Bondi, with the Mayor required to provide police services to the extent the Attorney General deems necessary and appropriate; the Attorney General is also charged with monitoring the situation, consulting, and reporting to the President. The order cited 2024 District figures of a homicide rate of 27.54 per 100,000 residents and a vehicle theft rate of 842.4 per 100,000, more than three times the national average of 250.2.
The same day, Trump also signed a presidential memorandum, Restoring Law and Order in the District of Columbia, directing the Secretary of Defense to mobilize the D.C. National Guard into active service in such numbers as he deems necessary, until the President determines that conditions of law and order have been restored, and to coordinate with state governors on authorizing additional National Guard reinforcements from other states. Trump announced that day that about 800 D.C. National Guard members would be mobilized.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年8月11日，特朗普总统在白宫新闻简报室举行记者会，宣布华盛顿特区进入犯罪紧急状态，身后站立者包括司法部长Pam Bondi等官员。白宫官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: President Donald Trump holds a press conference in the White House briefing room on August 11, 2025, declaring a crime emergency in Washington, D.C., with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials standing behind him. Official White House photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
