The vast majority of Washington residents oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to federalize the city’s police department and deploy the National Guard, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The survey from The Washington Post/Schar School found that 79 percent of residents either somewhat or strongly oppose the efforts, compared to just 17 percent who backed it.
Washington — where Trump won just over 6 percent of the vote in 2024 — is an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Just 31 percent said that crime in the city was either “extremely” or “very serious,” down from 65 percent in an April 2024 survey. Seventy-eight percent of residents responded they felt “very” or “somewhat” safe in their neighborhoods. Twenty-one percent said they felt not too or not at all safe.
Trump on Aug. 11 invoked his authority under the Home Rule Act, the 1970s federal law that grants the District limited self-governance, which allows a president to direct the services of the Metropolitan Police Department to assist the federal government during “special conditions of an emergency nature.” Trump and the administration characterized it as a takeover of city police, describing the city as unsafe despite data which shows violent crime in the city is down.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of violent youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” the president said at the White House.
Trump and his administration have repeatedly attacked that data as unreliable, with the Department of Justice launching an investigation, officials have said.
Legal challenges by city officials have already prevented him from installing an “emergency police commissioner” who would have taken over Police Chief Pamela Smith’s authority and responsibilities.
The Home Rule Act affords the president power in the city for 30 days, at which point he will need congressional approval if he wishes to extend it. Trump has floated trying to circumvent this by declaring a national emergency.
Sixty-one percent of residents who have noticed federal law enforcement officers in the city since Trump’s announcement said it makes them feel less safe, with 38 percent saying it makes them feel more safe or makes no difference.
The Washington Post poll surveyed 604 adult residents of Washington from Aug. 14 to 17 via telephone. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.
