Trump Targets NYC After Deploying National Guard To D.C.

NEW YORK CITY — President Donald Trump said Monday the Metropolitan Police Department will be placed under federal control and the National Guard will be deployed to reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C., and alluded that other Democratic-led cities could be next.

Trump in a news conference said he was invoking section 740, of the District of Columbia Home Rule act, and calling it a "Liberation Day in D.C."

"We're going to take our capital back, taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the President of the United States," Trump said.

The president is claiming the move will make the nation’s capital safer. He also mentioned looking at other cities like New York City, Baltimore, Oakland and Chicago for a possible federal takeover.

“We have other cities that are very bad. New York is a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don’t even mention that anymore. They’re so far gone,” Trump said.

"I will look at New York in a little while. Let’s do this. Let’s do this together,“ he added. ”And if we need to, we’ll do the same thing in Chicago. We have an incompetent governor there.”

About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s effort to combat crime.

More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in D.C. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are also contributing officers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.