This story is part of WTOP’s series “Five stories that defined the DC-area in 2025.” You can hear it on air all this week and read it online.
During a news conference on Aug. 11, President Donald Trump vowed to address crime in D.C. He promised to get rid of what he described as the city’s “slums,” activated hundreds of National Guard members to patrol D.C. streets and told Attorney General Pam Bondi she had control of the city’s police force.
Trump similarly described his aim to address vandalism, potholes and medians on city streets and homeless encampments.
In doing so, Trump invoked Section 740 of D.C.’s Home Rule Act.
In the months that followed, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had to walk a tightrope to navigate the federal intervention. She pushed back on the assertion that it was a federal takeover, instead calling it a “surge” of law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
Before the crime emergency was announced, city leaders maintained that violent crime had already been falling. The city’s crime data, though, has been the subject of congressional and Department of Justice investigations.
The White House, meanwhile, is commending the surge for making D.C. safer. During the emergency, it released crime data from the day prior daily.
“If you were to talk to any police chief in the country, they’re always going to want more resources,” said Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow at Cato Institute. “I don’t think that there’s any of them that would turn down additional money, especially money to hire additional officers.”
But, Eddington said, there are federal grant programs in place for that.
“The National Guard is not one of those resources that should be used,” he said.
National Guard descends on DC
In the days after the crime emergency was declared, hundreds of National Guard members arrived on city streets. They worked near Metro stations and parks. Some helped collect garbage and assist with maintenance work.
Federal law enforcement worked with D.C. government agencies to coordinate the clearing of homeless encampments across the city.
At the same time, some residents reported a rise in masked federal officers working in their communities.
During appearances in late August, Bowser stressed the city didn’t ask for the federal assistance. But she said the federal help meant more resources, resulting in more traffic stops and more illegal gun seizures.
Bowser criticized agents wearing masks and “ICE terrorizing communities.” She described having National Guard troops, especially those from other states, in the city as something “not working.”
Asked for comment about the law enforcement surge’s impact, a spokesperson from Bowser’s office referred WTOP to those prior remarks.
Meanwhile, Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said Trump transformed D.C. “from a crime-ridden mess into a beautiful, clean, safe city. Federal law enforcement officers, in close coordination with local partners, have removed countless dangerous criminals and illegal drugs from the streets, arrested MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members, and rescued missing children.”
Federal government declines extension of declaration
Congress declined to extend the president’s crime emergency, which expired in September.
Bowser issued a mayor’s order, outlining how D.C. would continue to collaborate with the federal government after the 30-day declaration. It created a “Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center,” responsible for managing the city’s response to Trump’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force.
The order outlined the agencies D.C. would continue to collaborate with. It didn’t mention U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the National Guard.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, hoping to end the National Guard’s deployment, in early September. The legal battle, though, is ongoing.
As of Dec. 14, a spokesman for D.C.’s Joint Task Force said there were 2,606 troops deployed to the city. Pending court rulings, troops could remain in D.C. through February.
Trump called for hundreds more troops in the city after two were shot near Farragut Square during the week of Thanksgiving. Twenty-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died, and Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is still recovering.
For a short time after the November shooting, D.C. police worked overtime patrolling city streets alongside the National Guard. That was no longer the case as of mid-December, a D.C. police spokesman told WTOP.
Surge still lingers in DC
With signs of the surge still evident across the city, residents have conflicting feelings about its legacy.
Taylor Helle moved to D.C. this summer for an internship, and enjoyed the city so much she stayed. She said it felt like “the safest city I’ve ever been in.”
“I don’t think it’s really been that necessary, and I haven’t felt a lot safer because of it,” Helle said. “It just feels like there’s better things they can be doing with their time.”
Dylan Vanek, meanwhile, said troops on D.C. streets crossed a line, “because what separates us from Russia or China or Iran is civil liberties. How can we claim to be better if we have troops on our streets policing civilians?”
A federal government employee, who asked not to be named because she’s not authorized to speak publicly, said the surge and Guard presence “gave me a sense of calm.”
“I just get a sense (that) people are a little calmer now,” the woman said. “To me, you don’t see a lot of foolishness going on. Even homeless people — it’s just a calm. I don’t understand it, but it’s a nice calm.”
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