The Latest: Trump orders federal law enforcers onto streets of Washington, D.C.
With President Donald Trump calling for a federal takeover of the nation’s capital city, the White House says there will be an increased presence of federal law enforcement on the streets of Washington, D.C., for at least the next week. “We have to run D.C.,” Trump told reporters.
But doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress and could face steep pushback. This was prompted by the attempted carjacking of a DOGE employee nicknamed ‘Big Balls’ by a group of teenagers. Carjackings and homicides are actually down sharply in D.C. after spiking in 2023.
A two-hour tour of the D.C. streets, starting around 1 a.m. Friday morning, revealed no evidence of the sort of multiagency flood of uniformed personnel described in Trump’s announcement.
Here’s the Latest:
Trump orders increased law enforcement presence in Washington for at least 7 days
The White House says there will be increased presence of federal law enforcement in the capital to combat crime for the next week, with the option to extend it.
“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens.”
She said that means “there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”
The announcement comes amid Trump’s repeated suggestions that control of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step that the president said lawyers are examining but that could face pushback.
Trump says Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign ‘historic’ peace deal at White House
The president said he is looking forward to hosting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday.
In a post on his social media site, he billed the event as “historic” and said the two leaders would participate in a “Peace Signing Ceremony.”
Trump said his “administration has been engaged with both sides for quite some time” and added that he was “very proud of these courageous Leaders for doing the right thing.”
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter conflict over territory since the early 1990s, when ethnic Armenian forces took control over the Karabakh province and nearby territories.
The U.S. Air Force will deny retirement pay to transgender service members
The move will deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.
They’re being separated from Air Force under Trump administration orders and will have to either take a lump-sum separation payment offered to junior troops or be removed. One Air Force sergeant said he feels “betrayed and devastated.”
Q&A: Can Trump hold a census in the middle of a decade and exclude immigrants in the US illegally?
On Thursday the president instructed the Commerce Department to have the Census Bureau start work on a new census that would exclude immigrants who are in the country illegally from the head count, which determines political power and federal spending.
Experts said it was unclear what exactly Trump was calling for, whether it was changes to the 2030 census or a mid-decade census, and, if so, whether it would be used for a mid-decade apportionment, which is the process of divvying up congressional seats based on population.
Can Trump do this?
It would be extremely difficult to conduct a mid-decade census, if not impossible, according to experts. Any changes in conducting one would require alterations to the Census Act and approval from Congress, which has oversight responsibilities, and there likely would be a fierce fight.
▶ Read more about questions raised by the president’s action
By The Associated Press
