The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has positioned Madrid as the safest city in the world and a model to follow in terms of security. During a press conference, he announced that the federal government will take control of the Washington DC Police to reduce crime rates.
Prior to his appearance, the White House distributed a document to journalists in the Oval Office titled "Making DC safe and beautiful again," which included a bar graph showing the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants in various cities.
Washington topped the list with a rate of over 25 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bogotá, Mexico City, Islamabad, and Lima.
Following on the graph were Ottawa, Paris, Havana, New Delhi, London, and finally Madrid, ranking last as the city with the lowest murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants.
During the press conference, the President of the United States announced that, effective immediately, the White House will assume control of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington DC to address the crime that he described as "out of control" in the country's capital, a decision as historic as it is unusual.
He also emphasized that he will deploy 800 National Guard troops to try to curb the "bloodthirsty criminals" and the "roaming bands of wild youth," an improper interference by the White House and a new display of force by the Government in one of the country's major cities, as seen in Los Angeles last May.
With his usual hyperbolic rhetoric, Trump painted a bleak picture of the streets of Washington, contrasting with official figures, suggesting that the homicide rate is higher than in some of the "worst places on Earth".
However, according to numbers released by the District of Columbia Attorney's Office in January, violent crime in the city reached its lowest level in 30 years, with a 35% decrease compared to 2023. Homicides decreased by 32%, robberies by 39%, and carjackings by 53%.
Trump, flanked by his Attorney General, Defense Secretary, and FBI Director, stated that he would declare a public safety emergency and eliminate homeless camps. "We will reclaim our capital," declared Trump, adding that he will also eradicate slums.
However, the Republican perceives a different reality, dangerous enough to deploy FBI members, around 120 in total, and coordinate efforts with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who confirmed that National Guard troops will be moving throughout the capital in the coming days.
Trump has not ruled out involving military personnel if necessary, declaring a public safety emergency in the city and invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, granting him temporary control of the department.
Unlike in the states, the President has the freedom to deploy the National Guard in the District of Columbia, where there is no governor. Trump has made it clear that he seems unwilling to be limited, as demonstrated by sending 5,000 National Guard members and marines to Los Angeles to quell protests against his mass deportation campaign of undocumented immigrants in the California city.
Attorney General Pam Bondi will assume responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington. The President did not provide a timeline for taking control of the police department, but it is limited to 30 days under the statutes unless approved by Congress.
As Trump spoke, numerous protesters gathered outside the White House to protest the measures. Local officials rejected the depiction of the district as crime-ridden and deemed the federal government's actions illegal. "The Executive's actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and illegal," stated District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb. "There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia."
In fact, Democrat Schwalb argued that violent crime in the district reached historic lows in the past 30 years last year and decreased another 26% this year.
In the document distributed to journalists, the U.S. President insisted that he will free Washington and that "crime, savagery, filth, and scum will disappear. I will make our capital great again. The days of innocent people being murdered are over. I quickly fixed the border (zero illegals in the last three months). Washington is next," he concluded.
Ironically, the last major disruption in Washington occurred on January 6, 2021. It was the Capitol assault carried out by a mob of Trump supporters instigated by the President's speech hours earlier. Many of the assault perpetrators ended up receiving presidential pardons.