The nation’s capital has now entered its second week under heavy military and federal patrols after President Trump ordered a surge of National Guard troops and masked federal agents into Washington, D.C. The president acknowledged that many Americans view the move as an overreach but insisted it was necessary.
Funny how he didn’t order the National Guard into D.C. when his angry mob descended on the Capitol Hill and assaulted hundreds of police officers and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.” That was the former Vice President, if you need a refresher. That all happened on Earth One.
Anyways, back to Earth 2 …
“Already they’re saying, ‘He’s a dictator,’” Trump declared Wednesday during a speech at the Kennedy Center. “The place is going to hell and we’ve got to stop it. So instead of saying ‘He’s a dictator,’ they should say, ‘We’re going to join him and make Washington safe.’”
The decision to militarize law enforcement in the city has been met with backlash, as hundreds of troops now roam the streets while the administration attempts to assert control over the city’s Metropolitan Police Department. The abrupt escalation reflects a familiar theme in Trump’s political message, which for decades has often spotlighted crime, particularly within Black communities, as a centerpiece of his rhetoric.
Trump has frequently described urban areas like Washington in stark terms. Back at his 2016 inauguration, he spoke of “mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities” and vowed to end what he called “American carnage.” Critics argue this latest crackdown follows that same line of narrative, built on misleading claims that the city is spiraling into chaos.
“There is not a crime crisis in D.C.,” said Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown Law professor and former reserve officer with the Metropolitan Police. “This is police state territory, banana republic police state territory.”
While Washington has experienced waves of serious crime in recent years, recent data shows a different picture. A Rochester Institute of Technology analysis of 24 major U.S. cities last year placed D.C. fourth in murder rates. However, the same study aligned with Justice Department statistics showing that violence in Washington has dropped significantly since 2023, reaching a 30-year low last year.
The contradiction between Trump’s alarmist claims and the crime data continues to fuel debate, as D.C. residents find themselves at the center of a sweeping show of force that many see as unnecessary and politically motivated.