WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)— US President Donald Trump said Monday he will deploy military and federal law enforcement in Washington as he seeks to curb violent crime in the nation’s capital.

The Republican leader told a White House news conference he plans to place the DC Metropolitan Police under the direct control of the federal government while sending in the National Guard.

The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offenses are down.

“This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said.

Trump — a convicted felon who has pardoned around 1,500 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren’t tough enough.

He has repeatedly threatened a federal takeover of the city of 700,000, saying crime in Washington was “totally out of control.”

The new approach echoes Trump’s immigration policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.

The president told reporters he planned to roll out the policy to other cities, spotlighting problems in New York and Chicago.

Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.

Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city’s budget.

“There’s absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” Elizabeth Critchley, 62, said at a protest outside the White House. “It’s all for show. It’s just a big theater.”

Data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.