President Donald Trump has vowed to forcibly remove homeless individuals from Washington, DC, following days of comments about potentially taking federal control of the U.S. capital, which he falsely claims is grappling with rising crime.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Sunday.
In the same post, Trump also targeted alleged criminals, stating, “The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong. It’s all going to happen very fast.”
This declaration comes on the heels of Trump’s earlier threat to deploy the National Guard in response to what he has wrongly described as a crime surge in Washington. His Sunday post included images of tents and litter in DC streets, with the president stating, “I’m going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”
However, the White House has yet to clarify what legal basis Trump would have to evict individuals from the city, as he only controls federal properties in Washington. As of last year, DC ranks 15th among U.S. cities in terms of homeless population, with approximately 3,782 individuals without permanent housing on any given night in the city of around 700,000 people.
According to the Community Partnership, many of these individuals are housed in emergency shelters or transitional housing, with about 800 living unsheltered.
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Following a recent violent attack on a young Trump administration staffer, the White House confirmed the deployment of additional federal law enforcement officers to the city. A total of 450 federal officers were sent to DC on Saturday, tasked with investigating minor offenses, including unlicensed firearm possession and dirt bike riding.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric, Washington’s Democratic Mayor, Muriel Bowser, rejected claims of a crime surge, highlighting that violent crime in DC had dropped to a 30-year low. Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday, “We have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low.”
Statistics from the city’s police department show a 26% reduction in violent crime during the first seven months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, and overall crime has decreased by 7%.
While Bowser refrained from directly criticizing Trump, she dismissed his claims, stating that any comparison of the city to a “war-torn country” is “hyperbolic and false.” Her remarks followed Trump’s earlier comments about potentially using the military to manage U.S. cities, particularly those under Democratic leadership, which has led to friction between the president and local officials.
The President has previously threatened to federalize Washington, DC, a city where Congress controls the budget and residents elect a mayor and City Council. For Trump to take control, Congress would likely need to pass a law to dissolve the city’s local government—a move Trump would have to sign into law.
Trump is scheduled to hold a news conference on Monday to discuss his plan to “stop violent crime in Washington, DC.” It remains unclear whether he will provide more details about his homeless eviction proposal at that time.
