‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’: Trump Orders Homeless Out of Washington DC

US President Donald Trump has declared that homeless people must “move out” of Washington DC, pledging to crack down on crime in the capital, a move that drew sharp criticism from the city’s mayor after the White House likened the US capital to Baghdad, Iraq.

The Republican leader also teased a Monday press conference to unveil his plan to make Washington “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”

However, Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected the claim of worsening crime, stating, “We are not experiencing a crime spike.”

Trump, who last month signed an order easing the arrest of homeless individuals, deployed federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets of the capital just last week.

“The homeless have to move out, immediately,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Sunday. “We will provide you with places to stay, but far from the capital. As for the criminals, you’re not moving out, you’re going to jail where you belong.”

Sharing images of tents and litter, he added: “There will be no ‘Mr. Nice Guy.’ We want our capital back. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The details of the president’s new plan remain unclear, but in a 2022 speech, Trump suggested relocating homeless individuals to “high-quality” tents on inexpensive land outside urban areas, with access to bathrooms and medical care.

On Friday, he ordered a surge of federal agents, including personnel from the US Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the US Marshals Service- into Washington DC to address what he described as “totally out of control” crime.

A White House official told NPR that as many as 450 federal officers were deployed on Saturday night.

According to Reuters and ABC News, the administration is also weighing the deployment of National Guard troops, though Trump has yet to make a final decision.

Trump’s actions follow the assault of a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in what police say was an attempted carjacking in Washington DC.

The president reacted on social media, sharing a photo of the bloodied victim and venting his anger over the incident.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Mayor Bowser acknowledged, “It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023. We have spent the past two years driving down violent crime in this city, bringing it to a 30-year low.”

She also aimed at White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller for describing Washington DC as “more violent than Baghdad.”

“Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,” Bowser said.

While the city’s homicide rate remains relatively high per capita compared to other US cities, with 98 killings recorded so far this year, the trend reflects a broader rise in homicides over the past decade.

However, federal data from January shows that last year Washington DC recorded its lowest overall violent crime rate in 30 years, once carjackings, assaults, and robberies are factored in.

Trump has scheduled a Monday news conference at the White House to unveil his plans to curb violent crime in the nation’s capital.

In another post on Sunday, Trump said his 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) event would focus on ending “crime, murder and death” in Washington DC, along with plans for the city’s “physical renovation.”

He described Mayor Bowser as “a good person who has tried,” but claimed that despite her efforts, crime had gotten “worse” and the city was becoming “dirtier and less attractive.”

According to the Community Partnership, an organisation working to reduce homelessness in the capital, Washington DC, home to about 700,000 residents, has roughly 3,782 homeless people on any given night. Most are in public housing or emergency shelters, but around 800 live “on the street.”

As a federal district rather than a state, Washington DC is overseen by the federal government, which has the authority to override certain local laws. The president controls federal land and buildings within the city, but would need Congress to approve any full federal takeover of the district.

In recent days, Trump has also threatened to assume control of the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, a move Bowser insisted was not legally possible.

“There are very specific things in our law that would allow the president to have more control over our police department,” Bowser said. “None of those conditions exist in our city right now.”

Trump has frequently criticised Democratic-led city administrations throughout his two presidential terms.

In recent months, he has sparred with Los Angeles officials after deploying thousands of National Guard troops to quell unrest following raids on undocumented migrants.

That deployment has since triggered a legal dispute, which is set to be heard in a federal court in California on Monday.

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