(CTN News) – On Sunday, Donald Trump reaffirmed his dedication to employing federal forces to imprison criminals, even though violent crime in Washington, DC, was at a three-decade low when he took office in January.

He also insisted that homeless individuals leave the nation’s capital or confront eviction. On Sunday morning, shortly after his transfer from the White House to his Virginia golf club, Trump stated on his Truth Social platform, “The homeless must vacate immediately.”

It will be far from the capital.”

The post featured four photographs that seemed to have been taken during the president’s motorcade on route from the White House to his golf club.

Two images indicate that ten tents were established on the lawn next to a freeway on-ramp, located just over a mile from the White House. The third image depicts a lone guy sleeping on the stairway of the American Institute of Pharmacy Building on Constitution Avenue.

The fourth photograph illustrates a modest quantity of roadside litter on the E Street Expressway, near the Kennedy Center, while the convoy transporting to his golf estate proceeded. Trump’s post promoted a news conference originally slated for Monday, which he asserted would “essentially halt violent crime” in the capital district, without offering any justification.

He indicated in a later tweet that the press conference, set on Monday at 10 a.m., “will not only tackle the issues of Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also address Cleanliness.”

The advocates of self-determination on the Free DC movement swiftly arranged a demonstration for Monday coinciding with Trump’s news conference.

Trump claims poverty and violent crime are plagues in the capital, but they are not.

The Community Partnership, committed to eliminating homelessness in Washington, DC, reports that around 800 individuals without shelter sleep outside each night in a city of approximately 700,000 inhabitants.

In Washington, transitional housing facilities accommodate 1,065 individuals, while an additional 3,275 individuals utilize emergency shelters. Trump’s recurrent assertions that federalizing law enforcement in the city would be essential for improving safety overlook data from the Metropolitan Police Department, which was released by the federal government in January.

Data revealed that violent crime in Washington, DC, attained its lowest level in almost thirty years in 2024, reflecting a 35% reduction from 2023. On Sunday, Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC, asserted on MSNBC, “We are not witnessing an increase in crime.”

“In the past two years, we have sought to diminish violent crime in this city to levels not observed in over 30 years.” She stated, “According to police data from Washington, DC, violent crime has diminished by an additional 26% this year.”

Bowser claims that “federal law enforcement is perpetually active on the streets of Washington, DC, and we consistently cooperate with them.”

Trump has threatened to use the Washington DC National Guard.

This week, Trump mandated an increase of federal officers from multiple agencies to bolster patrols in Washington, DC, referencing the assault on a young government employee who came to the city to collaborate with Elon Musk as justification for the inadequacy of the local police in combating violent crime.

Nonetheless, the attack that revealed was interrupted by the police in Washington, DC, who also arrested two 15-year-old suspects promptly.

The White House refrained from responding to a Reuters inquiry concerning the legal rationale for Trump’s decision to exclude Washington residents. The president possesses exclusive control over government installations and property within the city.

The DC Home Rule Act, enacted by Richard Nixon in 1973, empowers the residents of Washington, DC to elect the mayor, council members, and neighborhood commissioners who manage the district’s daily affairs, although the US Congress retains authority over the city’s budget.

On Wednesday, Trump informed reporters that White House attorneys were “already studying” the potential for legislation to remove the law that provides Washington, DC, with self-governance and enforces direct federal oversight of the city.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the nonvoting delegate for Washington, D.C. in Congress, asserted that President Trump’s remarks will adversely affect the nearly 700,000 permanent residents of the nation’s capital, regardless of the fact that crime in the city is at a historic low.

The residents of Washington, D.C., primarily of Black and brown descent, has the capacity for self-governance independent of federal politicians lacking accountability to the district.

The 88-year-old representative stated, “The sole enduring solution to protect D.C.’s autonomy is the enactment of my D.C. statehood bill.”

SOURCE: TG