After days of agitating for as much, on Monday, the president announced “Liberation Day” for Washington, D.C., federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department and activating the National Guard. Graham voiced his support for the move, expressing full confidence that it would transform the capital.
“It’s hard to make America great again when the capital of America is the most dangerous place on the planet to work, live, and visit,” Graham said in an appearance on Fox News’s Hannity.
“Well done, Mr. President, you’re going to do for D.C. what you did for the border,” he added.
Graham said he would create a “D.C. security fund,” which would allow Trump to hire more police officers and utilize better technology to improve the safety of the capital.
“Well done, Mr. President. I want to help you,” he reiterated.
White House officials said Trump will mobilize roughly 800 National Guard troops to assist the MPD with logistics, transportation, and guarding federal and law enforcement facilities. The federalization is expected to last 30 days.
TRUMP FEDERALIZES DC POLICE AND ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TO COMBAT CRIME: ‘TAKE OUR CAPITAL BACK’
“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” the president told reporters in the White House press briefing room. “We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the President of the United States. I’m officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act — you know what that is — and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.”
He added that the National Guard troops would be “allowed to do their job properly.”
