(AFP) – US President Donald Trump will patrol the streets of Washington Thursday with police and National Guard troops he has deployed to the US capital, the Republican said in an interview. Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard to deploy in Washington last week as part of what he has called a crackdown on crime in the Democrat-run city, despite statistics showing violence offenses are down.
“I’m going to be going out tonight I think with the police and with the military of course… We’re going to be doing a job,” Trump told Todd Starnes, a host for right-wing media outlet Newsmax. He spoke one day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to the District of Columbia, the federal district which includes Washington — on his own meet-and-greet with troops deployed in the city.
The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops for the mission, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200 more. The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.
But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge. In addition to sending troops onto the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the local Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.
The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids.
© 2024 AFP
