New York (AP) – President Donald Trump Standing among hundreds of law enforcement officers, National Guard forces and federal agents. US Park Police Operations Center One of the most dangerous areas in DC, one of Washington. He provided a harsh message about crime as the camera rolled over. He was grateful for their efforts, which is a problem he has been hammering for decades.
“We’re not playing games,” he said. “We’ll make it safe and we’ll move on elsewhere.”
The Republican president is proudly promoting the work of around 2,000 National Guard forces in the city, loaned out by the allied governors of at least six Republican-led states. They say, like dozens of Democrat-led cities, violent crime in Washington has been declining significantly since Pandemic High, but they are in place to stand up to what Trump describes as a wave of uncontrolled crime in democratically run cities.
Trump and his allies are convinced that his surprising decision to send troops to major American cities is an almost certain big political winner to remind voters of why he elected him last fall.
Democrats say this is the fight they want.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran, cast Trump’s move as a dangerous political stunt designed to distract Americans from persistent inflation, rising energy prices and inability to deal with major health insurance cuts.
“As someone who actually wears uniforms, I’m deeply upset about using these men and women’s lives and the activation as political pawns of these men and women,” Moore told The Associated Press.
Trump’s extraordinary federal gains come as a term-limited president threatens to send troops to other American cities led by Democrats, even as voters raise concerns about his authoritarian tendencies. And that could be a factor in both elections in Virginia and New Jersey this fall, and for the more consequential midterm next year.
People are opposed to the use of President Donald Trump of the Federal Law Enforcement and National Guard along the U Street Corridor in northwestern Washington on Thursday, August 21, 2025 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Within the White House Strategy
The President and the White House see Trump’s decision to take over the DC police department as a political bounty and want to make the effort public.
The White House provided a live stream of Trump’s Thursday evening appearance, bringing surprises to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses on Wednesday Visit Union StationDC’s busy transit hub would like to thank the members of the National Guard over Shake Shack Burgers.
Every morning, Trump’s press distributes statistics that outline law enforcement measures the previous night.
This strategy reflects Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which often forces Democrats to come to the defense of people living in the country illegally, including those who have committed serious crimes.
White House officials spoke in the background to discuss internal deliberations, dismissing concerns about Washington’s perception of federal overreach, saying public safety is a fundamental requirement and a priority for residents.
Trump defended his efforts in an interview with The Todd Sterness Show on Thursday.
“I sent people to stop the crime, so they said, ‘He’s a dictator.’ But the real people, even Democrats, are calling me and saying, “It was incredible.”
The White House wants to use its actions in DC as a test case to encourage change in other cities, but Trump has legal authority to intervene in Washington, and the cities are partially under federal control, so they are not elsewhere.
“Daily Americans who support common sense policies will see the removal of more than 600 dangerous criminals from the streets of our country’s capital as a great success,” said White House spokesman Taylor Rogers. “Democrats continue to be unpopular as they oppose efforts to stop violent crime and protect law-abiding citizens.”
The Democrats are leaning
Moore, the Democratic governor of Maryland, suggested the dark motivation behind Trump’s approach. It focuses mostly on cities with a large population led by a Democratic mayor of color.
“Once again, we see how these incredibly dangerous and biased ratios are being used about these communities by people who are willing to step into them but are willing to stand in their oval offices and advocate,” Moore said.
Even before Trump called the National Guard to Washington, Democratic mayors across the country have managed to reduce violent crime.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who leads the Democratic Mayors Association, noted that more than half of the country’s 70 largest democratically-led cities have seen a decline in violent crime so far this year.
“He’s racial divisions yelling fear and confusion,” Bibb said. “We need someone who wants to be a collaborator, not a dictator.”
Democrat strategists have acknowledged that Trump’s GOP has enjoyed significant benefits in recent years on crime and immigration issues. But as Democrat officials oppose Washington’s federal takeover, party strategists offer cautious optimism that Trump’s tactics backfire.
“This is an opportunity for the party to attack on issues that have been wreaking havoc on us for a long time,” said veteran Democratic strategist Daniel Wessel. “The facts are on our side.”
President Donald Trump will speak with law enforcement and National Guard soldiers in Washington on Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jaclyn Martin)
Look closely at numbers
FBI statistics released this month show murder and non-prime ministerial death charges in the United States in 2024. 1 year agocontinues to decline seen since the crime spikes during the coronavirus pandemic era.
Meanwhile, recent public votes show Republicans enjoy more benefits than Democrats on the issue of crime.
In a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in May, around four in ten US adults said Republicans’ views are closer to themselves on crime and police, while three in ten said they fit the Democratic views more closely. About three in ten said neither party reflected their views. Other polls conducted over the past few years have found similar gaps.
Trump also had a greater advantage over Democrat Kamala Harris in the issue in the 2024 election. About half of voters said Trump could better deal with crime.
At the same time, Americans have expressed more concerns about the scope of presidential forces since Trump took office for the second time in January.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in April said about half of US adults had “too much” power in the way the US government operates recently, starting from 32% in March 2024.
The extraordinary military presence in American cities was characterized by Washington checkpoints, where hidden federal agents were placed, injecting senses of fear and confusion into everyday life in some of the country.
At least one daycare centre was closed Thursday as childcare staff feared military action.
Moore said he would block any pushes by Trump to send the National Guard to Baltimore.
“I have never seen anything that appears to justify our National Guard mobilization,” he said. “They think they are beating political debate. I don’t give it to political debate.”
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Washington AP writers Amelia Thomson DeBau and Chris Megarian contributed.
