The 2025 District of Columbia emergency was proclaimed by President Donald Trump on 11 August 2025, ostensibly in response to "rampant crime." The deployment of hundreds of National Guardsmen to Washington DC was decried by critics as a symbol of Trump's authoritarian tendencies and as an ineffective measure towards battling a relatively low crime rate.
By 2024, the American capital of Washington DC had a murder rate of 25 per 100,000 residents, nearly twice the 2012 rate, but well below the peak of 80.2 per 100,000 in 1991, when Washington was dubbed the nation's "murder capital." On 4 August 2025, former DOGE employee Edward "Big Balls" Coristine was assaulted in an attempting carjacking, and Trump cited the incident as evidence of "totally out of control" crime in the capital. On 8 August, FBI, DEA, ATF, ICE, and other federal agencies began patrolling the streets of Washington under the direction of the United States Park Police. On 11 August, Trump invoked Section 740, declaring a public safety emergency of rampant crime in Washington. 800 District of Columbia National Guardsmen wer edeployed, with 100-200 expected to be on duty at any given time. On 15 August, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed DEA administrator Terry Cole as "emergency police commissioner." Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb argued that the federalization of police did not authorize the administration to change the MPD chain of command, resulting in Trump allowing DC police chief Pamela Smith to remain in charge. On 16 August, the Republican governors of Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia sent hundreds more National Guard and military police perssonel to DC, followed by the Mississippi National Guard on 18 August and hundreds more National Guardsmen from Louisiana and Tennessee. On 26 August, National Guardsmen were assigned to pick up trash and spread mulch on the grounds of the National Mall and other federal property, and the Trump administration took control of Washington Union Station on 27 August.
The deployment of the National Guard was met with protests, including at Dupont Circle on 16 August and in the "We Are All D.C." march on 6 September. A 14-17 August Washington Post poll found that 80% of DC residents opposed Trump's federalization, and that 72% supported statehood for Washington DC. While robberies and carjackings fell by 40%, burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon increased by 6% and 14%. Federal forces arrested 300 undocumented immigrants as part of their crackdown on crime in the city.