Federal law enforcement resources are being significantly redirected toward Washington DC street-level crime prevention, with the FBI dispatching agents for overnight patrol shifts as President Donald Trump considers deploying the National Guard to the nation's capital. The development represents an escalation in Trump's aggressive approach to DC crime issues, according to The Washington Post.
The Trump administration has temporarily reassigned up to 120 FBI agents, primarily from the Washington Field Office, to work overnight alongside local DC police officers for at least one week, according to two individuals familiar with the deployment who spoke anonymously about internal staffing arrangements that remain unpublicized.
A decision regarding National Guard activation could materialize as early as Monday, when Trump has scheduled a White House news conference focusing on DC crime issues, according to a US official who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive operational matters, The Washington Post reported.
Trump drew comparisons Sunday between his planned DC crime intervention and his administration's stringent border immigration enforcement, declaring intentions to "immediately clear out the city's homeless population and take swift action against crime."
"Be prepared! There will be no 'MR. NICE GUY.' We want our Capital BACK," Trump stated in a Truth Social post.
White House officials declined to preview potential announcements, with one spokesperson explaining that "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 DC safe again."
The FBI agent deployment places counterintelligence, public corruption, and other specialized division personnel in street-level law enforcement roles despite their limited training in traffic stops and similar patrol activities. This reassignment diverts federal agents from their standard investigative responsibilities while Trump publicly characterizes the city as experiencing rampant violent crime.
Trump ordered federal law enforcement agents from multiple agencies to begin city street deployments last week while advocating for increased prosecution of juvenile offenders in adult court systems.
Weekend staffing arrangements reveal the substantial FBI resources Trump's administration is redirecting toward local crime prevention, creating frustration within bureau ranks. FBI agents typically lack authority for conducting traffic stops, with their street roles potentially limited to supporting other agencies during such encounters.
The FBI deployment extends beyond DC, with agents from Philadelphia and other locations being brought in to augment federal law enforcement presence in the District, according to multiple sources familiar with operational planning.
Federal property is distributed throughout Washington, and local enforcement routinely coordinates with federal law enforcement for patrolling these areas and surrounding zones. However, the US Park Police and Secret Service, which possess greater street patrol experience, typically handle such responsibilities rather than the FBI.
Both the Secret Service and the US Secret Service Uniformed Division have received directives to initiate special DC patrol operations, according to a White House official who spoke anonymously regarding operational details.
Washington DC's unique status as a non-state jurisdiction grants the federal government distinctive authority over city affairs, even when local residents and elected officials object. The Home Rule Act of 1973 established DC residents' ability to elect their mayor and council members. A federal police force takeover would represent an extraordinary power assertion in a location where local leaders possess limited resistance mechanisms against federal intervention.
Trump has intensified his criticism of the nation's capital recently. The president posted a photograph last week of a former US DOGE Service staffer injured during an attempted carjacking. DC police subsequently arrested a 15-year-old Maryland boy and girl, charging them with unarmed carjacking. "I'm going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before," Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. "It's all going to happen very fast, just like the Border."
Trump announced in a separate Sunday social media post that Monday's 10 a.m. White House news conference will address the city's cleanliness, physical renovation, and general conditions. "The Mayor of DC, Muriel E. 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 stated in an afternoon Truth Social post.
Bowser has been countering Trump's characterization of her city, emphasizing on MSNBC Sunday morning that crime rates have been decreasing in the nation's capital. DC violent crime statistics show a 26% decrease compared to this time in 2024, according to DC police data. Homicide rates have declined 12%. DC police have conducted approximately 900 juvenile arrests this year, representing almost 20% fewer than the same time frame last year. About 200 of those charges involve violent crimes, with at least four dozen related to carjacking. "If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here," Bowser, who indicated her last Trump conversation occurred several weeks ago, stated on MSNBC. "But it won't be because there's a spike in crime."
The FBI agent reassignment has further demoralized Washington Field Office personnel, who believe they lack the expertise and training needed to effectively thwart carjackers, a situation exacerbated by their anger over recent agency dismissals they consider unwarranted. The Trump administration dismissed FBI personnel nationwide last week without explanation, including the Washington Field Office head.
"If DC doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore," Trump wrote in a social media post last week that included a bloody image of the injured former DOGE staffer.
Trump ordered the creation of the "DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force" this spring, serving as a vehicle for his longstanding fixations on quality-of-life issues, including homeless encampments and graffiti throughout the city. Homeless advocates and DC residents criticized Trump's threats to remove homeless individuals from DC as inhumane, costly, and impractical on Sunday. "That money could be better spent getting folks housing and support," Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center, stated regarding the federal law enforcement presence in the District.
