US President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday to evict the homeless from the capital and jail criminals, while the mayor of Washington claims that the city is not facing an increase in crime.
“Homeless people must move out, NOW. We will house you, but FAR from the capital. Criminals, you do not have to move. We will put you in jail, where you belong,” Trump posted on the Social Truth platform.
The White House declined to explain what legal authority Trump would use to evict people from Washington. The president, a Republican, controls only federally owned land and buildings in the city.
According to the Community Partnership, an organization working to reduce homelessness in Washington, every night 3,782 people experience homelessness in the city of about 700,000.
Most of the homeless are in emergency shelters or transitional housing. About 800 are considered homeless or “on the streets,” the organization says.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said Sunday that the capital city “is not experiencing an increase in crime.”
“It’s true that we had a tremendous increase in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023,” Bowser said on MSNBC’s Weekend. “Over the last two years, we’ve worked hard to reduce violent crime in this city, bringing it to the lowest level in 30 years.”
Bowzer on Sunday highlighted the president’s ability to call in the National Guard if he wants, a tactic the administration recently used in Los Angeles after immigration protests.
