On Monday, US President Donald Trump — declaring a “public safety emergency” — announced a federal takeover of Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, while deploying 800 National Guard troops. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been placed in charge of operations, with DEA Administrator Terry Cole named interim commissioner.

Just a couple of months earlier, Trump had sent California’s National Guard to Los Angeles to address immigration protests — after the unrest had largely ceased, by the way. Rather than just a series of domestic maneuvers, such moves mark efforts to recalibrate the US federative framework, with global impacts.

The latest federal intervention, as a matter of fact, is quite unprecedented. No President had invoked the so-called Home Rule Act in this fashion before. Despite Trump’s claims of rampant criminality, violent crime in DC has fallen sharply enough — 26% in 2025 compared to the previous year, following a 35% drop from 2023 to 2024, bringing crime levels to a 30-year low. It is no wonder DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb condemned the recent move as “unprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful”.

In any case, the President has stated: “other cities are hopefully watching this.” It is quite clear then that crime is a pretext for........

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