“We will clean it quickly.” President Donald Trump held a press conference on Monday, August 11 to announce the deployment of soldiers of the National Guard in Washington, under the control of federal authorities.
To justify this decision, Donald Trump invoked the need for exceptional measures to “restore peace” in the US capital, according to him “invaded by violent gangs.” The day before, Donald Trump had already summoned the homeless people of Washington to “immediately” from the US capital, saying that he wanted to make the city “safer and more beautiful than it has never been.”
At the end of February, Donald Trump said there was “too much crime, graffiti, too many tents in the Céspedes, these magnificent Céspedes”, in Washington and that it was harmful to the image of the US capital, which regularly receives foreign leaders.
• Washington, a city with special status
Washington is a city with an incomparable status in the rest of the country, not only as a venue of power, but also for its political and government structure. The city was founded in 1790 to become the capital of the United States, a young country that came out of its war of independence. Unlike the 50 US states, the municipality of Washington operates within the framework of a particular relationship with the federal state, which limits its autonomy.
From a 1973 law, the inhabitants can choose a municipal council, even if Congress even supervises their decisions. This sometimes led to tensions between the two, especially when marijuana consumption was legalized in 2015.
Washington is also a deeply rooted city among Democrats. Donald Trump’s rival in the November elections, Kamala Harris, had raised more than 90% of the votes there.
• However, crime decreases in Washington
Washington’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, invited on the MSNBC channel on Sunday, August 10, refuted Donald Trump by remembering that statistics on the crimes committed in the capital were “in the lowest for 30 years.”
During the past year, violent crimes decreased by 26 %, and in the previous year by 35 %, specifies the chosen Democrat. “It is true that we had a terrible crime peak in 2023, but we are no longer in 2023, we are in 2025,” added Muriel Bowser.
The Democrat Mayor also responded to Donald Trump’s deputy director, Stephen Miller, who said Washington is a “more violent city than Baghdad.” “Any comparison with a country devastated by war is exaggerated and incorrect,” said Muriel Bowser.
“If the objective is to demonstrate a force in an American city, it can do it, but it is not because there is an increase in crime,” concluded the mayor of Washington.
• The National Guard was already deployed in California
In June, Donald Trump had already deployed the National Guard in California, facing demonstrations in Los Angeles against the massive raids organized by the immigration police at home and in the workplace of migrants, in order to expel them.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, opposed Donald Trump and had filed a complaint against the latter claiming that the US president had not obtained his agreement to deploy the National Guard.
An American federal judge had the right to Gavin Newsom, declaring the deployment of the National Guard in California as illegal and had ordered that the control of this double guardianship reserve body was returned to the governor of California.
Source: BFM TV
