And, there you have it, folks – – it’s Liberation Day in our nation’s capital!
After days of threatening to seize control of D.C. and promising to make our capital great again, President Trump is now officially taking control over the Washington, D.C. police department.
He has also confirmed that he will be deploying the National Guard to D.C.
President Trump unveiled his plans during today’s big press conference at the White House.
Watch here:
🚨 President Trump announces he is invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard.
"This is Liberation Day in D.C. — and we're going to take our capital BACK." pic.twitter.com/aqov60mrCW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 11, 2025
Underneath the Home Rule Act, President Trump has the authority to federalize the D.C. police for 30 days without an act of Congress.
NBC Washington explained:
Trump said he is invoking Section 740 of the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act to federalize MPD.
The president is allowed to federalize MPD for 48 hours before he must notify Congress and for a total of 30 days before he must get approval from Congress.
The Home Rule Act says that when the president “determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist,” he can place D.C. police under federal control. But the president cannot do this for more than 48 hours without providing notification to the chairs and ranking members “of the Committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and the House of Representatives.” This would mean the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The law does not specify different conditions for congressional recesses. Congress is scheduled to return from recess on Sept. 3.
The president can only federalize the D.C. police force for a period of 30 days unless Congress passes a “joint resolution authorizing such an extension.”
As for the National Guard, President Trump has direct authority to deploy as many as he wants for as long as he wants in D.C. — unlike other states, where the governors have control.
Last night, we reported that President Trump was considering deploying around 1,000 National Guard members to D.C. but that nothing was finalized yet.
As it turns out, President Trump decided on 800 — still a huge number for one city!
Fox News reported:
Trump said he is also deploying 800 members of the National Guard to the city. Trump’s authority to take over D.C. police is rooted in Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.
“This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re gonna take our capital back,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Flanking Trump during the press conference were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Hegseth said the National Guard troops would deploy “in the coming week.”
Let’s go!
We’ll see how this all plays out in the coming days and weeks…
But one thing is for sure: we’re taking our Capital back!
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!