Fact Sheets

# Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares a Crime Emergency to Restore Safety in the District of Columbia

The White House
August 11, 2025

RESTORING PUBLIC ORDER AND SAFETY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia to protect public servants, citizens, and tourists, and ensure the safe functioning of the Federal government.

- The President has determined that special conditions of an emergency nature exist, requiring the use of the Metropolitan Police Department’s services to maintain law and order, protect Federal buildings, national monuments, and other Federal property, and ensure the orderly functioning of the Federal Government.
- The Order invokes the President’s authority under the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act to require the Mayor to make the services of the Metropolitan Police Department available to the President.
- The Order delegates this authority to the Attorney General, who will also monitor the emergency conditions and provide regular updates to the President on the status of the emergency.
- The Attorney General will recommend further actions or the termination of the emergency measures as circumstances warrant.

COMBATING RAMPANT VIOLENCE: The surge in violent crime in our Nation’s capital is a national disgrace that threatens public safety and Federal operations, to the detriment of all Americans.

- Washington, D.C. has one of the highest robbery and murder rates among large U.S. cities nationwide, with a homicide rate exceeding 27 per 100,000 residents in 2024.
- Vehicle theft in the District is over three times the national average, at 842.4 thefts per 100,000 residents, ranking it among the most dangerous cities globally.
- Rising violence endangers Federal workers, hinders recruitment and retention of essential personnel, and undermines confidence in the United States as a secure nation. If our Federal Government cannot operate safely and effectively, it is a threat not just to the District of Columbia, but to the Nation.
- The city government’s failure to control crime has forced the diversion of critical resources, hampering the Federal government’s ability to operate efficiently.
- President Trump has a Constitutional obligation to restore order so that citizens, tourists, and staff can live peacefully in the Nation’s capital. Our Nation’s capital should be the envy of the world, not a disgrace.

MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: President Trump campaigned on the promise to make America safe again and restore Washington, D.C. to glory.

- On President Trump’s first return to Washington since leaving office in 2021, he lamented “the filth and the decay” that marred the Nation’s capital in his absence.
- President Trump later promised that his Administration would “take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime, but rather it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world.”
- In March, President Trump created a task force to make D.C. safe and beautiful, surging law enforcement to restore order and enhance the city’s infrastructure.
- The Administration is committed to reducing violent crime rates, improving public safety, and ensuring Washington, D.C. serves as a model of prosperity and security for the nation.
- President Trump: “Just like I took care of the Border, where you had ZERO Illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again.”

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