Hegseth defends Trump’s decision to federalize DC police force amid criticism

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth elaborated on what President Donald Trump has “got the guts” to do, after they announced Monday Washington, D.C.’s police force will be federalized. 

“We’re going to work right alongside our law enforcement partners as force multipliers,” Hegseth told “The Ingraham Angle.” 

As part of the White House’s efforts to crack down on crime, Trump declared it was “Liberation Day” and officially placed the Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal control. Hegseth also teased 800 National Guard troops will be deployed “in the coming week.”

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This comes after recent acts of violence in the capital city made national headlines, including a former DOGE staffer being assaulted and a 21-year-old congressional intern being fatally caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting a mile away from the White House in June.

“If our capital city is a mess, if we can’t control our capital city, then what does the rest of the country look like?” Hegseth asked. 

When Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked how long the troops will be in the nation’s capital, Hegseth called their deployment “conditions-based,” emphasizing the administration will support all parts of law enforcement to “make sure people who are arrested are actually locked up.”

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“That’s why the president’s talking about cashless bail and sanctuary cities,” Hegseth explained. “If you’re illegal here in D.C., that’s going to be a problem. So all of these things that apply to law and order are front and center for us.“

The National Guard could be deployed for weeks or months, but when they should pull out is ultimately the “president’s call,” Hegseth added. 

Hegseth also responded to accusations the Trump administration is acting as “authoritarians” would, insisting these critiques are no different than what he heard when they “quelled the protests of the attacks on ICE officers” in Los Angeles in June. 

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“I was told, ‘Oh, you’re going to lock up political opponents, you’re going to go after Democrats,’ yada yada. It’s the same stuff every time. Mischaracterizing our intentions,” Hegseth argued. 

He continued, “The intentions of this president is to establish law and order using legal and lawful and constitutional means, which he completely has, and you know why they don’t like him? He’s got the guts to do it.”

In June, President Donald Trump had ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s, D-Calif, strong stance against it.