President Donald Trump declared a public safety emergency from the White House Monday, citing violent crime. Trump said that he is deploying the National Guard and putting Washington, D.C. police under federal control to fight violent crime in the city.

The president spoke about the homelessness problem and dirtiness of the city, including graffiti, and declared that Attorney General Pam Bondi is now in charge of the D.C. Metro Police Department. Trump announced that he’s invoking the Home Rule Act and putting D.C. law enforcement under federal control.

“I am announcing historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said. “This is liberation day in D.C. We are going to take our capital back.”

“You want to be able to leave your apartment or house where you live and feel safe … and you don’t have that now,” Trump continued, comparing the crackdown on crime to his swift ending of illegal immigration at the southern border.

Former Department of Homeland Security Ken Cucinelli appeared on “Washington Watch” Monday to respond to the news. He insisted that taking over D.C. police is “indisputably” within Trump’s authority.

“Well, there is no city in America where he has more legal authority to do that,” Cucinelli explained. “Because it is not a state, it is a federal district under the Constitution.”

Cucinelli said critics will point to recent improvements in the crime rate, but he said actual safety and criminality in D.C. is “a real debatable question in Washington, D.C.” “President Trump wants it to be a showcase of a city … not just ‘good enough.’”

A string of high-profile violent attacks on federal workers has drawn the ire of Trump, who last week deployed 500 federal agents to patrol the streets. Those officers came from a range of agencies, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, U.S. Marshal’s Service, and Department of Homeland Security.

“Our Capitol city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump said.

The reference to “wild youth” is thanks to a new trend in Washington, D.C. where groups of teenagers run through the streets causing chaos and at times attacking people.

How did we get here?

The spirit of lawlessness thrived during the 2020 BLM riots where little was done to stop the burning of America’s beautiful cities. A post-2020 violent crime wave swept the nation as police were demonized. Now, crime is a bit better than the peak of the BLM aftermath, however D.C. remains a violent, dangerous place. Consider a few recent news items where I live:

• A former DOGE staffer was recently beaten senseless for trying to save a woman from a carjacking.
• A 21-year-old congressional intern was killed last month.
• In 2023, Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar was carjacked.
• Also in 2023, a top staffer for Republican Senator Katie Britt (Ala.) was carjacked at gunpoint.
• A friend of mine who works for Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was stabbed in the head and miraculously survived. He was simply walking down the street in broad daylight and was attacked.

The examples above are just those with ties to the federal government. They don’t include the countless local D.C. residents, like my pregnant friend who was held at gunpoint in Southeast D.C. or my buddy Caleb, who was mugged shortly after moving to D.C. a few years ago.

Everyone who works in D.C. has stories like this.

Some of the crime problem is policy. For instance, no cash bail is a disaster that allows criminals to treat jails like a Stop & Go. Speaking ill of police makes it harder to recruit. In many cities, police funding has been cut.

Much of the problem is spiritual. The moral decay, fatherlessness, and our drift from God manifests in many ways, crime among them. It seems hard to resolve this one without a lot of prayer and a historic revival.

But some of the problem is purely leadership. Trump made this point in his speech Monday, but he may be able to solve crime like he solved the southern border. The experts and leftists say it’s too complex and difficult to solve. But Trump fixed the problem almost overnight by allowing officers to actually enforce the laws on the books. The same approach in D.C. could have the same effect and expose the fact that the tolerance of crime in America’s city is actually a failure of leadership, not an unsolvable problem or one requiring endless amounts of taxpayer dollars.

Is Trump’s drastic move a bit unnerving? Maybe. But it’s almost certainly temporary without congressional authorization. Will it be challenged in court? Probably. What Trump can hopefully accomplish is use this short sting to show the rest of the country, especially those suffering in dangerous American cities, that a change in leadership and a bit of backbone can solve the “unsolvable” crime crisis in a few weeks.

Trump’s rapid response account on X posted this picture of Washington, D.C.’s crime rate compared to other capitals in developed nations.

The post below gives an insight into how the president views the issue not just as a local one, but as part of the nation’s reputation internationally. Trump referenced several other capital cities around the world in less developed nations that have lower murder rates.

Trump referenced the same aforementioned high-profile incidents of crime in Washington, D.C., including referring to congressional aides and a Democratic lawmaker who were attacked and other fatal shootings near the Capitol. He said he would get the homeless away from the Capitol, giving them somewhere to be, and work with lawmakers to end no cash bail policies.

Despite the handwringing of many politicos in D.C., everyone feels the crime and unsettled nature of the city.

During the press conference Monday, Trump asked the question that many couples ask each other right before they decide to move out of the city into much safer northern Virginia:

“Is that where you want to live?”