5 months ago
Updated Aug. 11, 2025, 6:40 AM EDT
What to know today...
- NATIONAL GUARD TO D.C.? President Donald Trump is considering considering ordering the National Guard into Washington, D.C., as he prepares to announce a crime-fighting effort in the nation's capital this morning.
- WHITE HOUSE REMARKS: The president is set to hold a news conference at 10 a.m. to discuss the plan to address crime as well as clean up the capital, which he indicated would include removing homeless people from the district.
- D.C. MAYOR RESPONDS: Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in an MSNBC interview yesterday that comparing the city "to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false." Earlier, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told NewsNation's Kellie Meyer that D.C. was "more violent than Baghdad."
- TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT: Over the weekend, a senior White House official and three people briefed on internal discussions told NBC News that the White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska, where Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet.
White House considers inviting Zelenskyy to Alaska ahead of Trump-Putin meeting
The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska, where Trump is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin next week, according to a senior U.S. official and three people briefed on the internal discussions. NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard reports.
Trump considering deploying up to 1,000 National Guard to D.C.
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Courtney Kube, Gordon Lubold and Monica Alba
Trump is considering deploying up to 1,000 National Guard troops to D.C. and could make the announcement as early as today, according to one defense official and two U.S. officials.
The number of Guard who would be assigned is still in flux, the officials say, and most of the troops would likely be pulled from the D.C. National Guard.
Officials stress that the decision is not final and no orders have been signed.
This is part of the President’s ongoing effort to increase security in the nation’s capital, but the Guard would be primarily focused on supporting law enforcement with things like administrative help and protecting federal personnel and property, not engaged in direct law enforcement activities.
Asked about the decision, a White House official told NBC News “we won’t get ahead of the president on any potential announcements, but the president has been clear that all options are on the table when it comes to making D.C. safe again.”
Trump foreshadowed this decision on Wednesday when discussing crime in D.C., saying, “what a shame, rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We’re not going to let it — and that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly too.”
White House increased law enforcement presence in Washington over the weekend
Raquel Coronell Uribe and Monica Alba
The White House increased the presence of federal law enforcement in Washington over the weekend, deploying 450 officers across all four quadrants of the city Saturday and on Sunday in high-traffic areas, as Trump has ramped up threats of taking control of D.C. and its local police force.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Washington will be "safe and beautiful again for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors" under Trump's leadership.
“Everyone who lives in our Nation’s capital knows homelessness and crime are plaguing this city," Leavitt said. "You can thank President Trump for finally taking action to clean it up."
A White House official said the operation over the weekend included 18 agencies that form part of the Task Force’s Law Enforcement Working Group. The agencies included D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Capitol Police.
The official said the effort was undertaken in compliance with a March executive order that had established the “Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.”
The official said multiple arrests and contacts were made, citing offenses from carrying a pistol without license to riding a dirt bike in a park.
Washington Mayor Bowser denies Trump’s claims that city is experiencing a crime spike
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday refuted Trump’s claims that crime in Washington is spiking, saying crime has decreased over the past two years.
In an interview with MSNBC, Bowser repudiated top Trump adviser Stephen Miller's claims that D.C. is “more violent than Baghdad.”
Miller made the comment to NewsNation reporter Kellie Meyer.
“Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,” Bowser said.
Bowser said that though it is up to the president if he decides to call the National Guard to D.C., she expressed concern over the possibility.
“These are men and women who leave their families to serve our country, and that is just not their primary role to enforce local laws,” she said.
Bowser added, “I’m concerned about them not being used efficiently, and I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard."
Bowser said she suspects Trump’s announcement this morning is that he “is surging federal law enforcement.” She said the increase of federal law enforcement presence over the weekend yielded arrests that cited a list of offenses “that sounds like a typical [Metropolitan Police Department] run down of arrest that I review [...] on a daily basis.”
“If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know [Trump] can do that here, but it won’t be because there’s a spike in crime,” Bowser said.
Ahead of press conference on D.C. safety, Trump warns homeless to move out ‘immediately’
Ahead of a press conference on safety and cleanliness in Washington slated for this morning, Trump made a post on social media yesterday warning people experiencing homelessness in the nation’s capital to leave the district.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” Trump posted on Truth Social, along with photos depicting tents in various parts of the city.
Trump went on to warn “criminals” they will be imprisoned, comparing what he expects will happen in the city to his administration’s crackdown on the U.S. southern border.
“Be prepared! There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote.
Trump to hold press event on safety in Washington
Trump is set to hold a press event this morning on safety in Washington.
Trump has not entered into specifics about what he will announce this morning, but said on social media yesterday that “it will not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital.”
The event comes as Trump has intensified threats in the past week to assume federal control of the city, following an assault on a well-known Department of Government Efficiency employee.
For years, Trump has wanted to take control of Washington and clean it up, claiming that crime and uncleanliness in the city had become out of control. But Trump’s renewed calls for the district’s federalization have gone a step further in recent days, with the president saying last week that he was weighing taking over D.C.’s local police force and even bringing in the National Guard.
While Trump could unilaterally take control of local police, a federal takeover of the district would require an act of Congress repealing the 1973 Home Rule Act granting D.C. limited self-governance.
Despite Trump’s claims that crime has reached a peak, the Metropolitan Police Department’s preliminary statistics show a decrease in violent crime year to date.
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