US Politics
Trump demands homeless ‘immediately’ move out of Washington DC to make nation’s capital ‘more beautiful’
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President Donald Trump has demanded that the homeless “immediately” move out of Washington, D.C. to make the nation’s capital “more beautiful.”
Trump reiterated his Saturday announcement that he’s set to hold a press conference at the White House on Monday, adding on Truth Social on Sunday that “I’m going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” he continued. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”
The president went on to say that “It’s all going to happen very fast, just like the Border. We went from millions pouring in, to ZERO in the last few months. This will be easier — Be prepared! There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK.”
Trump’s promise to jail criminals in Washington comes as the city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, has noted that there’s no recent increase in crime. Trump didn’t outline what legal authority he would use to evict people from the capital — the president only controls federal lands and buildings in the District of Columbia.
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Trump also took to Truth Social on Saturday to say that he was hosting a press conference that would put a stop to violent crime in Washington. The president’s Sunday post included images of tents and garbage on the streets of the capital.
The Community Partnership is an organization working to reduce homelessness in Washington, a city of 700,000 people. According to the group, on any given night, there are roughly 3,782 people experiencing homelessness. However, most of them are in emergency shelters or transitional housing, while about 800 are unsheltered or “on the street,” according to the group.
On Friday, a White House official said that extra federal law enforcement officers were being deployed in Washington after a group of teenagers reportedly attacked a young Trump administration staffer during an attempted carjacking, angering Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, Bowser said Washington was “not experiencing a crime spike.”
“It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023,” she said. “We have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low.”
The capital’s police department reported that violent crime in the first seven months of this year was down by 26 percent compared with 2024. Overall, crime was down roughly seven percent.
Bowser noted that the president is “very aware” of Washington’s work alongside federal law enforcement after she met with him at the White House some weeks ago.
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The mayor added on Sunday that Trump can call in the National Guard if he so chooses. The administration recently did so over the objection of local officials in response to immigration protests in Los Angeles.
Congress controls Washington’s budget following its establishment in 1790, using land from Maryland and Virginia. However, D.C. residents choose their own mayor and city council.
If Trump wanted to take control of D.C., Congress would likely have to pass legislation revoking the law that put in place the local elected leaders, which the president then would have to sign for it to take effect.