Trump's D.C. Takeover Yields 66 Arrests in First 2 Nights, as City Braces For Deployment of More National Guard Troops

Federal authorities arrested 66 people in Washington, D.C. over the first two nights of President Donald Trump’s takeover of the city’s police force, a White House official tells TIME, adding that the nation’s capital can expect to see even more National Guard members across the city Wednesday evening. Forty-three of those arrests occurred overnight on Tuesday, nearly double the amount of the previous night, as more federal agents and National Guard troops arrived in the city to patrol streets as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on crime, which has been falling in the city over the last two years. The aggressive federal intervention came after Trump on Monday invoked a rarely used provision of the 1973 Home Rule Act, allowing the president to place the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control for up to 30 days during a declared public safety emergency. Trump has said he will ask Congress to extend his authority beyond the 30-day limit. More than 1,450 law enforcement officers and agents were involved in Tuesday night’s operation, about half of them from the city’s police department. The National Guard’s role has so far been limited. Only about 30 troops were on D.C. streets Tuesday night, though officials say as many as 800 could eventually be mobilized to protect federal sites and assist in other non-arrest functions.  On Tuesday evening, a small group of Guard members in military vehicles appeared near the Washington Monument, where they were seen taking photos with visitors before departing two hours later. The White House official tells TIME that plans are underway for “a significantly higher national guard presence” throughout the city on Wednesday night. The President has described daily life in Washington, D.C. in apocalyptic terms and framed the intervention as a necessary response to what he called an “out-of-control” crisis due to “thugs” and “gang members.” But city statistics show a different picture: overall crime has declined sharply since 2023, with homicides, robberies, and carjackings all falling.  The White House official said that federal authorities have so far arrested 103 people in D.C. since the Administration started rolling out an increased law enforcement presence last Thursday, with 19 mixed-agency teams fanning out across neighborhoods to “promote public safety and arrest violent offenders,” the White House said. The operation has included agents from the F.B.I., the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, working alongside local police. In other parts of the city, federal agents were spotted conducting traffic stops and making arrests. Charges over the first two nights have included assault with a deadly weapon, homicide, drug possession with intent to distribute, unlawful entry, resisting arrest, lewd acts, stalking, reckless driving, and driving under the influence, the official said. Thirteen illegal firearms have been seized since Monday night.  The White House has signaled that the crackdown will also focus on dismantling homeless encampments, with officials offering those affected access to services like substance abuse counseling but threatening fines or arrest for those who refuse to relocate. Jeanine Pirro, the newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the District, has called for tougher sentencing laws, particularly for juveniles she accuses of driving much of the city’s violent crime. “Young criminals have been emboldened to think they can get away with committing crime in this city,” she wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece on Tuesday night. Trump’s use of federal force in the nation’s capital has drawn parallels to his 2020 deployment of the National Guard during racial justice protests, when officers forcibly cleared demonstrators from Lafayette Square and military helicopters performed low-altitude maneuvers over city streets.  Since Washington, D.C. is not a state, the President is able to deploy the National Guard and assume control of its police during declared emergencies. The lack of statehood also means the 700,000 residents of the city have no voting representation in Congress. Asked on Wednesday about the long-standing push for D.C. statehood, Trump called the proposal “unacceptable” and “ridiculous.”