The National Guard began patrolling the streets of Washington DC on Tuesday night after President Trump declared that the federal government would assume control of policing in the area.

Troops with the National Guard arrived into the capital late on Tuesday night in a bid by the White House to curb violent crime. 

Images of the troops started to pour in shortly after 8pm EST, showing camo clad officers being dispersed throughout the city. 

Military Humvees also parked on the National Mall on Tuesday evening with officers standing close by. 

The New York Times reported that they stayed in the area for two hours before leaving for what a nearby Master Sgt. described as a ‘presence patrol’.

FBI Director Kash Patel said that so far 23 people were arrested in the city with help from partners in a post to his X. 

Patel reported that one individual was apprehended on a search warrant for a previous homicide charge, while others were caught for illegally carrying firearms.

Patel mentioned that several individuals were also detained for outstanding DUI warrants, and one person was arrested for breaching a restraining order.

‘These are just a few examples we are just getting started. When you let good cops be cops they can clean up our streets and do it fast’, he added. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that around 850 officers and agents had fanned out across the city on Monday and made the arrests. 

The announcement from Trump came on Monday, stating that this decision was to ‘rescue our nation’s capital from crime, violence, chaos, and filth’.

Accompanied by key figures such as Attorney General Pam Bondi, US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Interior Director Doug Burgum, Trump stated he would direct federal law enforcement to use strict measures against the city’s most notorious offenders.

‘You spit and we hit and we can hit real hard,’ he said. 

The president also vowed to clear out camps of homeless people from Washington, DC parks and public lands. 

Federal law officials began their citywide deployment over the weekend, ramping up a public display of force that was seen immediately by residents. 

‘Our Capital City has been overrun by violent gangs, ruthless criminals, unruly youth, drug-addled individuals, and homeless people, and we’re not going to allow it anymore,’ he said. ‘We will not tolerate it.’

Trump also highlighted recent horrific crimes in the city including a 21-year-old congressional intern who was hit by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting and killed. 

As well as a former Trump administration official murdered in a carjacking, and a Democratic congressman who was carjacked at gunpoint.

Trump also recalled a ‘demented lunatic’ that stabbed an aide to Sen. Rand Paul in 2023 and a 3-year-old girl who was shot and killed near the Capitol. 

The president’s claim that crime has spike has been contested by the D.C.’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has pointed to stats that show violent crime has decreased in the District since 2023. 

Violent crime in DC is down 26 percent this year and in 2024 reached a 30-year low, with 190 homicides in 2024 compared to 274 in 2023, according to metro police department statistics.

‘The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive,’ Trump said in a Sunday night Truth Social post. 

In April, Bowser announced the creation of a special police force specifically to tackle underage crime. 

In an interview on MSNBC Sunday, she pushed back on White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller saying that D.C. was ‘more violent than Baghdad.’