President Donald Trump mentioned Sunday that homeless folks should be moved “far” from Washington, after days of musing about taking federal management of the US capital the place he has falsely instructed crime is rising.
The Republican billionaire has introduced a press convention for Monday by which he’s anticipated to disclose his plans for Washington — which is run by the domestically elected authorities of the District of Columbia below congressional oversight.
It’s an association Trump has lengthy publicly chafed at. He has threatened to federalize town and provides the White Home the ultimate say in how it’s run.
“I’m going to make our Capital safer and extra lovely than it ever was earlier than,” the president posted on his Fact Social platform Sunday.
“The Homeless have to maneuver out, IMMEDIATELY. We will provide you with locations to remain, however FAR from the Capital,” he continued, including that criminals within the metropolis could be swiftly imprisoned.
“It’s all going to occur very quick,” he mentioned.
Washington is ranked fifteenth on a listing of main US cities by homeless inhabitants, in line with authorities statistics from final yr.
Whereas hundreds of individuals spend every evening in shelters or on the streets, the determine are down from pre-pandemic ranges.
Earlier this week Trump additionally threatened to deploy the Nationwide Guard as a part of a crackdown on what he falsely says is rising crime in Washington.
Violent crime within the capital fell within the first half of 2025 by 26 p.c in contrast with a yr earlier, police statistics present.
Town’s crime charges in 2024 have been already their lowest in three a long time, in line with figures produced by the Justice Division earlier than Trump took workplace.
“We’re not experiencing a criminal offense spike,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser mentioned Sunday on MSNBC.
Whereas the mayor, a Democrat, was not essential of Trump in her remarks, she mentioned “any comparability to a conflict torn nation is hyperbolic and false.”
Trump’s risk to ship within the Nationwide Guard comes weeks after he deployed California’s army reserve power into Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration raids, regardless of objections from native leaders and regulation enforcement.
The president has ceaselessly mused about utilizing the army to regulate America’s cities, lots of that are below Democratic management and hostile to his nationalist impulses.
