- 5 months ago
President Trump holds a White House press briefing to detail a federal crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C.
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01:01Wow.
01:04I've been up here a lot. I've never seen a crowd like this.
01:07I think we need a ballroom.
01:09And that's happening. It's going to be a beautiful ballroom.
01:12This is really a lot of people, most I've ever seen in this room.
01:18And we're here for a very serious purpose, very serious purpose.
01:22Something's out of control, but we're going to put it in control very quickly like we did on the southern border.
01:27I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.
01:38This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we're going to take our capital back.
01:44We're taking it back.
01:45Under 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.
01:55You know what that is?
01:56And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control, and you'll be meeting the people that will be directly involved with that.
02:07Very good people, but they're tough, and they know what's happening.
02:14They've done it before.
02:16In addition, I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order of public safety in Washington, D.C., and they're going to be allowed to do their job properly.
02:26And you people are victims of it, too.
02:29You know, you're reporters, and I understand a lot of you tend to be on the liberal side, but you don't want to get mugged and raped and shot and killed.
02:38And you all know people and friends of yours that happened.
02:43And so you can be anything you want, but you want to have safety in the streets.
02:47You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe and go into a store to buy a newspaper or buy something.
02:56And you don't have that now.
02:58The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth.
03:11Much higher.
03:12This is much higher.
03:14The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled.
03:22Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate probably ever.
03:27They say 25 years, but they don't know what that means because it just goes back 25 years.
03:32Can't be worse.
03:33Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people.
03:43And we're not going to let it happen anymore.
03:45We're not going to take it.
03:47Just like we did on our southern border.
03:50Nobody comes to our southern border anymore.
03:52Three months in a row, we had zero.
03:54I don't know if that's right, but the people that do the work, it's a very liberal group of people, actually, and they actually said zero for the last three months.
04:02Nobody thought a thing like that was possible.
04:04And, you know, when you take a look at numbers, I just saw some charts.
04:12These are different cities throughout the world.
04:15The red is, okay, the red is a place called Washington, D.C.
04:21Look at these, Baghdad is, we doubled up on Baghdad.
04:30Panama City, Brasilia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Bogota, Colombia, heavy drugs.
04:39Mexico City, I mentioned, Lima, Peru.
04:41All double and triple what they are.
04:47So do you want to live in places like that?
04:49I don't think so.
04:51I don't think so.
04:52And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you'd see, look at the kind of numbers we have.
04:58D.C., 41 per 100,000.
05:01Number one that we can find anywhere in the world.
05:05Other cities are pretty bad, but they're not as bad as that.
05:10Is that where you want to live?
05:12The reporters of the world?
05:15Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons, as they say.
05:21It's getting worse.
05:23It's not getting better.
05:24It's getting worse.
05:26And we had a recent indication.
05:29And there was a story about a man who was just left.
05:36He quit because he was asked to do phony numbers on crime.
05:40And we're going to look into that.
05:42I think Pam is going to be looking into that.
05:44But he was asked by the city, I guess, that we don't want to show the real numbers.
05:49Let me do numbers so it looks like it's going down.
05:51Not going down.
05:52And under Biden, it was a disaster.
05:55And nobody did anything about it.
05:56We're going to do things about it like you wouldn't believe.
05:58But every American has a constitutional right to be able to access and petition their government
06:06in safety.
06:08And countless federal officials and employees likewise have the right to carry out their jobs
06:12in peace without being shot.
06:14As you know, I lost a very good person a while ago.
06:19He was shot waiting for his wife.
06:21He was in the car.
06:22They robbed this car.
06:22They shot him.
06:23They killed him like there was nothing to it.
06:25She was walking to the car.
06:27She was it's a horror show.
06:29This issue directly impacts the functioning of the federal government and is a threat to
06:35America.
06:36Really, it's a threat to our country.
06:38We have other cities also that are bad, very bad.
06:42You look at Chicago, how bad it is.
06:44You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is.
06:47We have other cities that are very bad.
06:49New York has a problem.
06:51And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland.
06:55We don't even mention that anymore.
06:56They're so they're so far gone.
06:58We're not going to let it happen.
07:00We're not going to lose our cities over this.
07:01And this will go further.
07:05We're starting very strongly with D.C. and we're going to clean it up real quick, very
07:10quickly, as they say.
07:12Days ago, a former member of the Doge staff was savagely beaten by a band of roving thugs
07:18after defending a young woman from an attempted carjacking.
07:22He was left dripping in blood.
07:24He thought he thought he was dead with a broken nose and concussion.
07:27Can't believe that he's alive.
07:29He can't believe it.
07:31In June, a 21-year-old congressional intern was tragically killed after being hit by a
07:41stray bullet in a drive-by shooting.
07:43A former Trump administration official named Mike Gill, fantastic person, was murdered last
07:48year in cold blood, in a carjacking blocks away from the White House.
07:55We all knew him.
08:00Great person, waiting for his wife as she was walking to the car.
08:11A Democrat congressman was also carjacked at gunpoint not far from the Capitol.
08:18And in 2023, an aide to Senator Rand Paul was stabbed in the chest and head by a demented
08:27lunatic as he walked down the street, just absolutely for no reason.
08:31Horrifically, last July 4th weekend, a three-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed while sitting
08:37in a car near the Capitol.
08:40Well, it's becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness.
08:46And we're getting rid of the slums, too.
08:47We have slums here.
08:48We're getting rid of them.
08:49I know it's not politically correct.
08:51You'll say, oh, so terrible.
08:53No, we're getting rid of the slums where they live.
08:58Caravans of mass youth rampaged through city streets at all times of the day.
09:06They're in ATVs, motorbikes.
09:09They travel pretty well.
09:12Entire neighborhoods are now under emergency curfews.
09:16Just this past weekend, gunfire through, went through.
09:20And you saw that, the Navy Yard.
09:22I saw it this morning.
09:23They saw that they fought back against law.
09:26See, they fight back until you knock the hell out of them, because it's the only language
09:31they understand.
09:32But they fought back against law enforcement last night.
09:35And they're not going to be fighting back long, because I've instructed them and told them
09:44whatever happens, you know, they love to spit in the face of the police as the police are
09:49standing up there in uniform.
09:52They're standing and they're screaming at them an inch away from their face.
09:56And then they start spitting in their face.
09:59And I said, you tell them, you spit and we hit.
10:04And they can hit real hard.
10:07It's a disgusting thing.
10:09I've watched that for years, for three, four years.
10:12I've watched them.
10:14The police are standing and they're told, don't do anything under any such or this.
10:18And you can see they want to get at it.
10:20And they're standing there and people are spitting in their face and they're not allowed to do
10:26anything.
10:27But now they are allowed to do whatever the hell they want.
10:30This dire public safety crisis stems directly from the abject failures of the city's local
10:37leadership.
10:38The radical left city council adopted no cash bail.
10:43By the way, every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster.
10:47That's what started the problem in New York and they don't change it.
10:51They don't want to change it.
10:52That's what started it in Chicago.
10:56I mean, bad politicians started it.
10:58Bad leadership started it.
10:59But that was the one thing that's central.
11:01No cash bail.
11:02Somebody murders somebody and they're out on no cash bail before the day is out.
11:09We're going to end that in Chicago.
11:11We're going to change the statute.
11:12I spoke with Pam and Todd and everybody.
11:15But we're going to change the statute and I'm going to have to get the Republicans to vote
11:19because the Democrats are weak on crime.
11:22Totally weak on crime.
11:24They don't know why they want to stop because they get mugged too.
11:29But we're going to change no cash bail.
11:32We're going to change the statute and get rid of some of the other things.
11:35And we'll count on the Republicans in Congress and Senate to vote.
11:39We have the majority.
11:40So we'll vote.
11:41We don't have a big majority, but we've gotten everything, including the great, big, beautiful bill.
11:46Got that done.
11:47And that's one of the greatest things that's ever happened to people in this country.
11:50They're starting to figure it out, how good it is.
11:53Biggest tax cut in history.
11:55So many things.
11:57But we'll be able to get that done.
11:59So, Todd, if you and Pam can draw up things working with the people, we will.
12:04I'll get it passed.
12:06We'll get it passed with the Republicans.
12:07Probably won't get, think of this, probably won't get one Democrat vote because they have
12:13no idea what they're doing.
12:15That's why they want men playing in women's sports.
12:17That's why they want transgender for everybody.
12:20Everybody transgender.
12:24And they just got walloped in an election in a landslide.
12:29And they haven't changed one thing.
12:30I saw the other day a certain gentleman who was a very well-known politician, Democrat,
12:36was fighting like hell that men should be allowed to play in women's sports.
12:40They just don't get it.
12:41They said it's an 80-20 issue, and I think it's a 97-3 issue.
12:46And I don't know who the three are.
12:47I've never heard anybody come.
12:49Nobody's ever come up to me, sir, you have to let men play in women's sports.
12:54You have to do it, sir.
12:55Nobody's ever approached me.
12:56I don't know where this issue even comes from.
12:59I've never seen anything like it.
13:01But they turned our nation's capital into a sanctuary jurisdiction.
13:05That's the other thing.
13:06We have to get rid of sanctuary cities as quickly as possible.
13:08We're going to do it, too.
13:09We have to, because it's sanctuary for criminals, releasing illegal alien gang members onto the streets.
13:16In 2022, nearly 70 percent of criminals arrested in Washington went unprosecuted.
13:23That's not going to happen with the group we have standing aside and standing behind me.
13:28And at the Metropolitan Police Department, it's now reached a small number relatively compared to what it was.
13:37But it's thousands of people.
13:39You know, we have thousands of police.
13:41I was told today, sir, they want more police.
13:44I heard a number of 3,500 police.
13:47That's a lot of police.
13:493,500.
13:51I thought they were going to say, we only have 30 policemen or women.
13:56He said, we have 3,500.
13:58We need more.
13:59You don't need more.
14:00That's so many.
14:01I've never heard.
14:01That's like an army.
14:03How could you need more than 3,000?
14:05It just happened two minutes ago.
14:07Sir, they've requested more police.
14:12Oh, what do they have?
14:13About 3,500.
14:15I said, 3,500?
14:18This is not a big area.
14:20It's ridiculous.
14:21What you need is rules and regulations, and you need the right people to implement them.
14:26And we have the right people here, that I can tell you.
14:29Look at the border.
14:31Biden said, there's nothing you can do.
14:33Kamala was the border czar.
14:34She never called one of the border patrol agents who are great, ISIS great, never spoke to anybody, never went there.
14:41But she was the border czar.
14:43And everybody said it was impossible to fix.
14:46I fixed it in three months.
14:47No, really.
14:49I fixed it the first week, but really fixed it over the last couple of months.
14:54And, I mean, literally to a point where, as I said, zero illegals entering our country in the last 90 days.
15:04Pretty amazing.
15:06It's time for dramatic action.
15:08We're going to do the same thing over here.
15:09It's going to be a very safe city, very soon.
15:11So we're not looking to just take years, because a lot of people die in years.
15:15And we've got incredible people in this country, except we have to allow them to do their job.
15:21And that we will deliver like nobody's ever delivered before.
15:29I actually think it's easy.
15:31You know, if you're competent, it's easy.
15:33If you're incompetent, it's impossible.
15:36But I'm very competent.
15:37Last week, my administration surged 500 federal agents into the district, including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security.
15:56You know, a lot of nations, they don't have anything like that.
16:00They've got some police.
16:03And they're rough police.
16:04They don't have a DEA, ATF, FBI, Park Police, the U.S. Marshal Service, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
16:13They've got some police.
16:17But they're rough police.
16:18And they do their job.
16:19They don't have crime.
16:22We're not going to have crime either.
16:24They made dozens of arrests.
16:26And that's what starts to happen.
16:31Again, cashless bail.
16:33Watch what we do with that.
16:35Today, we're formally declaring a public safety emergency.
16:39This is an emergency.
16:40This is a tragic emergency.
16:43And it's embarrassing for me to be up here.
16:45You know, I'm going to see Putin.
16:47I'm going to Russia on Friday.
16:49I don't like being up here talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once-beautiful capital was with graffiti all over the walls.
16:59It's another part of it, by the way.
17:02Because we're talking about safety.
17:03We're also talking about beautification.
17:05We're the most beautiful, potentially, capital in the world we always had.
17:09But people come from Iowa.
17:11They come from Indiana.
17:12They come and then they get mugged.
17:14It's not going to happen.
17:15Keep coming.
17:16Because by the time you get your trip set, it's going to be safe again.
17:20And it's going to be clean very quickly.
17:22We're going to replace the medians that are falling down all over the roads.
17:26We're going to replace the potholes.
17:27We're going to put a nice new coat of asphalt over the top.
17:31No, we don't have to rip the road out and spend seven years building a new road because they cut everything.
17:37Because some designers said, well, we need a quarter of an inch more turn for safety reasons.
17:43No, we're going to do it right.
17:45We're going to get it done quickly.
17:47So today we're declaring public safety emergency in the District of Columbia.
17:53And Attorney General Pam Bondi, who's fantastic, is taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment.
18:02And I'll be making the appropriate notifications to Congress and to the mayor, our new DEA administrator, who's one of the top in the country.
18:11He better be, Terry.
18:13If you're not, I'm going to get rid of you so fast.
18:16Terry Cole.
18:17Terry, thanks.
18:18Very good.
18:18We just got him.
18:20Most highly recommended person.
18:23And you'll be designated as the interim federal commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department.
18:29Okay?
18:30And you run them tough.
18:32They're good.
18:32You have a lot of good people.
18:33You have people that shouldn't be there.
18:35You also have people that shouldn't be there.
18:37They got in there because of woke.
18:39But you have a lot of great police.
18:41And those people are the ones that want to help you.
18:43This city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals.
18:48We will have full, seamless, integrated cooperation at all levels of law enforcement.
18:54And we'll deploy officers across the district with an overwhelming presence.
18:59You'll have more police.
19:00And you'll be so happy because you'll be safe.
19:04When you walk down the street, you're going to see police or you're going to see FBI agents.
19:09We're going to have a lot of agents on the streets.
19:12You're going to have a lot of, essentially, military.
19:15And we will bring in the military if it's needed, by the way.
19:19We're going to have National Guard.
19:20But Pete Hexner will tell you about it.
19:23We will bring in the military if needed.
19:25People say, oh, that's so terrible.
19:27He's going to bring in.
19:28It's been used many times over the years.
19:33I don't think we'll need it.
19:34I think we've got so many great people, including the people that are in the police department with proper leadership.
19:41They'll immediately begin massive enforcement operations targeting known gangs, drug dealers, and criminal networks to get them the hell off the street.
19:49Maybe get them out of the country because a lot of them came into our country illegally.
19:53They shouldn't have been allowed in.
19:54They come from Venezuela.
19:55They come from all over the world.
19:57We're going to get them the hell out.
19:58They won't be here long.
20:00But some of these people, a lot of them, are homegrown criminals.
20:05And these are bad people.
20:07These are rough people.
20:08And this is just a list of some of the people that were given to me today that were criminals removed from the D.C. streets this weekend.
20:16They were rough.
20:18Rough and tough.
20:20But we're rougher and tougher.
20:22Look at these people here.
20:25Nothing, you know.
20:27They're not going to be your local school teacher.
20:29Look at this guy.
20:30He has killed people numerous times.
20:33They're not going to be an asset.
20:36They will never be an asset to society.
20:37I don't care.
20:38I know we all want to say, oh, they're going to be rehabbed.
20:40It's not going to be rehabbed.
20:43I'm going to ask Doug Burgum to come up and say a couple of words because he's in charge, as you know.
20:48He's interior, but he's in charge of the U.S. Park Police.
20:52And I have heard so many great things about the Park Police.
20:55They're proud of it.
20:56They've been there for a long time.
20:58Their families oftentimes grow into the roles.
21:01They love the country.
21:02They love this area.
21:03Mr. Doug, could you say a few words, please?
21:07Thank you, Mr. President.
21:08On behalf of the U.S. Park Police, this is the oldest federal police force in the nation.
21:13They were formed in 1791 by none other than President George Washington.
21:19They've got the awesome responsibility of protecting our nation's most sacred monuments.
21:24The National Mall, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, and out west, the Presidio and the Golden Gate area.
21:33These folks have tens of millions of visitors a year, the kind of people that President Trump's talking about that come from around the country and around the world to see our sacred and learn about our history and our sacred monuments.
21:45They've been doing a fantastic job, but they are so pleased to rank and file that President Trump is now allowing them to enforce the law.
21:53As those of you that live in the city may know that the circles and the triangle parks that are spread throughout D.C. are actually federal park property.
22:02So the U.S. Park Police also have responsibility for that.
22:05These became littered with homeless camps under the Biden administration.
22:09All of you saw that since President Trump's executive order on March 27th, making D.C. safe and beautiful again.
22:17The U.S. Park Police have removed over 70 homeless camps.
22:20And President Trump also talked about beautification.
22:23They're stopping and enforcing the laws against graffiti on our monuments.
22:28They've removed over 80 specific attacks against our history with graffiti on our monuments.
22:34So they continue to do a great job, whether it's in their vehicles, on foot, or on the mounted police that you see around the National Mall.
22:40And President Trump, they thank you.
22:41The rank and file is so happy to be enforcing the law again.
22:44Thank you for your leadership.
22:45And they're excited about the announcement you're making today.
22:48Thank you. Very good. Great job you're doing. Thank you very much.
22:51Pete, could you say something about the military as you want?
22:55Well, Mr. President, it's an honor to be here.
22:57And at your direction this morning, we've mobilized the D.C. National Guard.
23:02It'll be operationalized by the Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, through the D.C. Guard.
23:07You will see them flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week.
23:11At your direction as well, sir, there are other units we are prepared to bring in.
23:15Other National Guard units, other specialized units.
23:17They will be strong.
23:19They will be tough.
23:20And they will stand with their law enforcement partners.
23:22This is nothing new for DOD, as the President noted, at the border.
23:27We've got 10,000 troops down there who've been operating in defense cooperation areas, defense zones,
23:34where there's zero, zero illegal crossings because of troops on strikers scanning the border.
23:40We've been protecting other people's borders for 20 years.
23:43It's about time we protect our own.
23:44And we're working with ICE and CBP.
23:46In Los Angeles, we did the same thing, working with the California National Guard,
23:51working with ICE officers.
23:53ICE officers deserve to do their job and not be attacked.
23:57We will work alongside all D.C. police and federal law enforcement to ensure this city is safe.
24:04This city is beautiful.
24:06And as I always say about President Trump to the troops, he has their back.
24:09And my message to the National Guard and federal law enforcement in Washington is,
24:13we have your back as well.
24:15Be tough.
24:16Be strong.
24:16We're right behind you.
24:17Thanks, Mr. President.
24:18I'm going to ask Pam, because she's now, as you heard me say,
24:23she's really in charge of a lot of what we're talking about.
24:26She's done an incredible job.
24:28People are going to start to see the fruits of her labor.
24:30And, Pam, maybe you could say a few words about what we're talking about here.
24:34Sure, President.
24:35I'm going to ask you.
24:35Let me be crystal clear.
24:40Crime in D.C. is ending and ending today.
24:42We are going to use every power we have to fight criminals here.
24:47President, thank you for caring about our capital.
24:50Families come here every summer.
24:53Our museums are free.
24:54We have the National Zoo.
24:56We have the National Gallery.
24:58D.C. should be a place where everyone can come and feel safe.
25:03Behind me and to my side, we have some of the best career law enforcement and prosecutors
25:08in the country who are ready to take this on.
25:12As the President said, Terry Cole is going to be supervising the Metro Police Department.
25:20Gadi Sirata, our U.S. Marshal, is going to be supervising command and control the entire operation.
25:30Our Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, and I will be working with them closely,
25:34along with our great FBI Director, Cash Patel.
25:38Cash is going to talk to you in a minute about what we did in Virginia recently with Governor Youngkin.
25:43Many of you covered that, and it was tremendously successful.
25:47Not only that, our secret weapon here in D.C. is U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro,
25:52one of the toughest prosecutors and a former judge,
25:56and she is going to be talking about juvenile crime, how it's out of control here,
26:00and what she's going to do to fight back.
26:04No more, no more crime rampant in our beautiful capital.
26:10No more teenage girls beating a disabled man to death.
26:13No more of that. No more drive-bys.
26:17We're going to do everything we can.
26:20And working with the ATF, ATF Director Driscoll and Commander of the Army,
26:25we're going to all work together.
26:28That's what we all do in this room.
26:30We work together. We fight.
26:32Do not underestimate one person in this room.
26:35We're going to make D.C. beautiful.
26:37We're going to make D.C. safe again.
26:39One other thing, just at the wharf a few days ago, the area of the wharf,
26:44Terry Cole reached out to me.
26:46Not even nightfall, on the weekend, where so many families in Turisco,
26:51guys overdosing from fentanyl on a park bench,
26:54in the middle of families around,
26:57they administered Narcan and saved his life.
27:00No more of that.
27:01The President of the United States is going to clean up D.C.,
27:04and we're going to be there to help him,
27:06and we're going to be successful.
27:09Thank you, ma'am.
27:10Can I talk about Northern Virginia, if you would?
27:12Northern Virginia, we had a big success.
27:15Thank you, Mr. President.
27:16Thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for your leadership,
27:18Deputy Attorney General, and the rest of our interagency partners.
27:21Mr. President, the following is what happens when you let good cops be cops,
27:25and I just want to highlight that before I get into Northern Virginia.
27:27This year alone, under President Trump's administration,
27:30we've had over 4,000 child victims identified and found.
27:34That's a 33% increase from the same time period last year.
27:3833% increase.
27:40We've had a seizure of 1,500 kilograms of fentanyl up to this date.
27:46That is a 25% increase since the same time period last year.
27:50And just to put it in perspective,
27:521,500 kilograms of fentanyl is enough to kill 115 million Americans.
27:57115 million Americans.
27:59Cops are getting after it.
28:01The FBI has arrested 19,000 people this year alone.
28:05Thanks to President Trump's administrations,
28:07that's double than where we were this time last year.
28:11And we have also arrested 1,600 people
28:14who have committed violent acts against children.
28:17Children.
28:18270 of them are human traffickers of children.
28:23Mr. President, this is what happens
28:25when you have great leadership at the Attorney General with Pam Bondi,
28:28your administration's priority of protecting the homeland
28:30and protecting American citizens and protecting our children.
28:33And the murder rates are plummeting.
28:35We are now able to report that the murder rate
28:38is on track to be the lowest in U.S. history,
28:41in modern recorded U.S. history,
28:43thanks to this team behind me and President Trump's priorities.
28:46And how do we do it?
28:47And what are we going to bring to D.C.?
28:48What we did in Northern Virginia,
28:50thanks to Terry Cole and Governor Youngkin and the team,
28:53we stood up a task force out in my Northern Virginia field office,
28:56and we said, let's let good cops be cops.
28:58Let's get them the intelligence and what they need,
29:00and let's get the red tape out of their way,
29:02and let's get DOJ partnered up with us
29:04to bring great prosecutions.
29:05And that's exactly what we did.
29:07In one month, we arrested 545 violent felons.
29:11545 in the state of Virginia,
29:13thanks to Governor Youngkin's partnership.
29:14And that simplicity in law enforcement
29:18is what's coming to Washington, D.C.
29:20When you let good cops be cops,
29:22when you give them the intel they need,
29:23when you work with our Homeland Security Task Force,
29:25when you work with Terry and Gaddy and I go way back to Miami,
29:28these guys are great leaders
29:30of their respective departments and law enforcement capacities.
29:33And when you have the DOJ and President Trump
29:36driving behind this mission,
29:38we are going to clean up Washington, D.C.,
29:39and we're going to do it the right way,
29:41the lawful way,
29:42and we're going to make sure Washington, D.C. is safe again.
29:45Thank you, Mr. President.
29:46Thank you, Attorney General.
29:47Thank you very much, Attorney General.
29:49Thank you, Cash.
29:52So, the process begins right now.
29:55It actually started over the weekend.
29:57We confronted a lot of very bad people.
30:00But it's going to be something
30:02that will be pretty amazing to you as you watch it.
30:06And I think most of you say,
30:07it's a beautiful thing to do it right.
30:09We're going to be removing homeless encampments
30:13from all over our parks,
30:15our beautiful, beautiful parks,
30:17which now a lot of people can't walk on.
30:20They've been very dirty,
30:23very...
30:23We've got a lot of problems.
30:26But we've already started that.
30:28We're moving the encampments away,
30:30trying to take care of people.
30:31Some of those people...
30:34We don't know how they even got there.
30:37Some of those people are from different countries,
30:39different parts of the world.
30:40Nobody knows who they are.
30:41They have no idea.
30:42But they're there,
30:43getting rid of the people from underpasses
30:46and public spaces from all over the city.
30:49There are many places that they can go,
30:51and we're going to help them as much as you can help.
30:53But they'll not be allowed to turn our capital
30:56into a wasteland for the world to see.
31:01The Metropolitan Police Department
31:02and the federal authorities will be supported
31:04in the effort, a really big effort,
31:09the 800 D.C. National Guardsmen
31:11that we'll put on,
31:13and much more if necessary, much more.
31:17It's...
31:17You remember I said,
31:19I offered 10,000 once.
31:20Remember I said to a certain person,
31:23a person who I thought always was highly overrated,
31:26not very competent,
31:28but I said,
31:28if you need them,
31:30we'll give you 10,000 of the military
31:33or the National Guard.
31:34They turned me down.
31:35But if necessary,
31:37we're going to move service members directly
31:39to joining the Guardsmen,
31:42and that'll take place very rapidly,
31:45and that'll be done in conjunction with Pam
31:46and with Pete and everybody else.
31:48Washington, D.C. should be one of the safest,
31:52cleanest,
31:52and most beautiful cities anywhere in the world.
31:54And we're going to make it that.
31:56We're going to make it safe.
31:57We're going to make it smart.
31:58We're going to make it beautiful,
31:59so beautiful.
32:01Some of the buildings,
32:02we're going to add to it.
32:03You see what we've done at the White House.
32:05The White House is a whole different building.
32:07I do that in my part-time
32:08because it's a natural instinct
32:10as a real estate person.
32:12I was very good at that,
32:13and I was very good at fixing things up.
32:14I like fixing things up.
32:16You see what's happening.
32:18The marble floors are being reinstalled,
32:21renovated, fixed.
32:22The whole place is becoming very beautiful.
32:24We're going to be adding a magnificent ballroom,
32:26most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere.
32:29We need it.
32:30I would have certainly loved to have had it today.
32:33I think we would have filled it up.
32:34A lot of you are standing outside,
32:36can't get in this room.
32:37I have never seen the room like this,
32:38which tells me that you want to talk about,
32:41I mean, this was a D.C. news conference.
32:44It tells me that you want to talk about crime in D.C.
32:47and beautification of D.C.,
32:49but I'm going to put that, that's easy.
32:52And I think, frankly,
32:53fixing the crime with the pros,
32:54fixing the crime is easy, too.
32:56A person who I've known for a long time,
32:59and she's been incredible.
33:01She was a fantastic,
33:03one of the best ever district attorneys in New York.
33:06She was in Westchester,
33:08and she became a judge, very successful judge.
33:11And then she went into showbiz,
33:13because she was such a good D.A.
33:14and such a good judge,
33:16tough judge, but fair, always fair.
33:18Nobody ever complained about that,
33:20but she was tough.
33:21And because of that and her reputation,
33:24she went into showbiz.
33:25So a lot of people don't, you know,
33:26they think of Janine as showbiz.
33:28Actually, showbiz was not her thing.
33:30It was, and she did great.
33:32She was on, along with a couple of other of my friends,
33:35on the number one show.
33:37And she did great.
33:38But this is what she loves doing.
33:41This is really her baby.
33:44What she's going to do is going to be incredible.
33:47And I'd like to introduce,
33:49to speak for just a few seconds,
33:51on what she has in mind, what she wants to do.
33:54We're going to be appointing some judges.
33:55You know, we have some open spots,
33:57and we're going to take people,
33:59because the judges are letting killers out.
34:02They just say, go.
34:04That's okay.
34:04Don't worry about it.
34:06So we're putting some Pam recommended,
34:09Todd recommended,
34:11some judges that are great.
34:12Janine recommended.
34:13Janine's given me three great candidates already.
34:16We've got 10 open spots,
34:17and we could probably create some more.
34:19We need them.
34:20Janine, would you say a few words, please?
34:22Thank you very much, Mr. President,
34:27and thank you, Madam Attorney General,
34:28and to all my partners here.
34:30We all want the same thing.
34:33We all want a safe city.
34:35We want a safe capital.
34:37We want to be able to bring our families here.
34:39We want to be able to come and enjoy the history
34:43that makes this place great.
34:45And unfortunately, we are not in that position right now.
34:49And Mr. President, I want to thank you
34:51for taking the step that we need right now
34:54to make criminals understand
34:56that they are not going to get away with it anymore.
34:59And I'm not going to stand here
35:01and go over and over the cases.
35:03But what I can tell you is this.
35:05I see too much violent crime being committed
35:08by young punks
35:10who think that they can get together
35:12in gangs and crews
35:14and beat the hell out of you or anyone else.
35:17They don't care where they are.
35:19They can be in DuPont Circle.
35:21But they know that we can't touch them.
35:24Why?
35:24Because the laws are weak.
35:26I can't touch you if you're 14, 15, 16, 17 years old
35:31and you have a gun.
35:32I convict someone of shooting another person
35:35with an illegal gun on a public bus
35:38in the chest.
35:40Intent to kill?
35:41I convict him.
35:43And you know what the judge gives him?
35:45Probation.
35:46Says you should go to college.
35:48We need to go after the D.C. Council
35:51and their absurd laws.
35:53We need to get rid of this concept
35:55of, you know, no cash bail.
35:57We need to recognize
35:58that the people who matter
36:00are the law-abiding citizens.
36:03And it starts today.
36:04But it's not going to end today
36:06because the president
36:07is going to do everything we need to do
36:09to make sure that these emboldened criminals
36:12understand we see you,
36:15we're watching you,
36:16and we're going to change the law
36:17to catch you.
36:19And my final note is this.
36:21These kids understand
36:23that the jurisdiction
36:24is through the state attorney general,
36:27Brian Schwab.
36:28I did a poster
36:29of the young man from Doge
36:31who was beaten bloody
36:32with a severe concussion,
36:34a broken nose,
36:35and then I did a poster
36:37of what happens to those kids
36:39because I can't arrest them,
36:40I can't prosecute them.
36:42They go to family court
36:44and they get to do yoga
36:45and arts and crafts.
36:47Enough.
36:48It changes today.
36:51Thank you, Mr. President.
36:53You're welcome.
36:54Great job.
36:57If I could,
36:58I just signed
36:59some executive orders.
37:01I'd like to have Will
37:02please come up
37:02and we'll
37:04let the people know
37:06what we signed.
37:07Do you want to put them down?
37:07Yes, sir.
37:08Go ahead.
37:08A short while ago
37:11in the Oval Office,
37:12President Trump signed
37:13two crucial executive actions
37:15to deal with
37:16the emergency crime conditions
37:17we currently face
37:18in the District of Columbia.
37:20The first of these
37:21was an executive order,
37:22as President Trump said before,
37:24invoking his powers
37:25under Section 40
37:26of the Home Rule Act
37:27to take federal control
37:29of the D.C.
37:30Metropolitan Police Department.
37:32Along with that executive order,
37:33President Trump signed
37:35the statutorily required
37:36notification letters
37:38to Mayor Bowser
37:39and to the relevant
37:40House and Senate
37:41committee leaders.
37:43The second major executive action
37:45that President Trump signed
37:46was a presidential memorandum
37:48directing the Secretary of Defense
37:50to utilize the National Guard
37:52to address the conditions
37:54we see on our streets
37:56here in D.C.
37:57It also authorized
37:58the Secretary of Defense
37:59to work with state governors
38:01to utilize their National Guard units
38:04if necessary as well.
38:05These are bold, decisive steps
38:08intended to combat
38:09the out-of-control crime conditions
38:11we've seen on D.C. streets
38:13for far too long.
38:14And I, for one, am deeply proud
38:16to be part of an administration
38:17that's finally coming to terms
38:19with these issues, sir.
38:20Thank you very much.
38:21Sir.
38:24So, just to conclude,
38:27Washington, D.C.
38:29should be one of the safest,
38:31cleanest, most beautiful places
38:33anywhere in the world.
38:34It was years ago.
38:37We had one problem
38:39that was a pretty big problem.
38:41The radical left got out of control
38:44and they started trying
38:45to rip down statues.
38:46And I said,
38:48let's go pass the law real fast.
38:50We're going to do it real fast.
38:51But we were blocked
38:52by the Democrats
38:52who do not want safety.
38:55Nobody gets it.
38:56I don't get it.
38:57They don't get it
38:58because they can't get votes.
38:59I don't know how they can
39:00win an election with this,
39:01but they don't want safety.
39:03And I found an old statute,
39:05very old, early 1900s,
39:07that said of you,
39:08so much is touch
39:09or even think about
39:12destroying a statue
39:13or a monument
39:15in Washington, D.C.
39:18You go to jail for 10 years
39:20with no probation,
39:21no anything.
39:22In other words,
39:23slightly different
39:23than we have today.
39:24Today we have cashless bail.
39:26Today you get jailed 10 years.
39:28No curtailed sentence.
39:3010 years.
39:32And we took it out.
39:34Nobody used it.
39:34It was never used
39:35because, you know,
39:36it was harsh.
39:37And you remember,
39:39they started to rip down
39:41the statue of Abraham Lincoln.
39:43I said,
39:44that's a tough one to rip down.
39:45That's,
39:46he was pretty good, Pam.
39:48I think he was pretty good.
39:49When they,
39:50when the ropes started
39:51going around Abraham Lincoln
39:52to pull him down,
39:54Andrew Jackson, others.
39:56And they were heading
39:57to the Jefferson Memorial,
40:00Thomas Jefferson.
40:01They're going to do
40:02a big number there.
40:03I said, it's time.
40:04And I signed that statute
40:08immediately.
40:09We had it updated.
40:11We made it,
40:12used the same language,
40:14all passed by Congress.
40:15And I announced
40:16it's 10 years in jail.
40:18No probation,
40:19no anything.
40:2010 years.
40:21No curtailed sentence
40:22if you touch,
40:23so much as touch,
40:25a statue in Washington, D.C.
40:27And it was an amazing sight,
40:31beautiful sight.
40:33Everybody just left.
40:35The ropes were hanging
40:36around Andrew Jackson.
40:37And there were two ropes
40:39around Abraham Lincoln.
40:42They left the rope.
40:43But everybody just left.
40:45And that was the last problem
40:46we ever had.
40:47You know,
40:47that was the last problem
40:48that we ever had
40:49with the statues.
40:50They were going wild.
40:52And we,
40:52somebody came to me
40:54and said,
40:54sir,
40:551910,
40:56I don't want to give you
40:57an exact,
40:57because you'll say,
40:58Donald Trump
40:59gave us wrong days
41:01around like early on.
41:04You know,
41:04if I'm slightly off,
41:06they make you sound
41:07a little bad.
41:07So I won't be,
41:09I won't put myself
41:10in that position.
41:10I won't put you
41:11in that position.
41:12Because I think
41:13everybody agrees
41:14with what we're doing today.
41:15But when I signed
41:16that thing,
41:16it was like a miracle.
41:18Everybody left.
41:19They were gone.
41:21They were starting
41:22to march down.
41:23They started the march
41:24toward Thomas Jefferson.
41:27And I figured
41:28he was always
41:28going to be safe.
41:30But they found
41:31something with him
41:32and they found
41:33something with Abraham Lincoln.
41:35And even in
41:36the name George Washington
41:37in California,
41:39numerous places
41:40changed the name
41:41of George Washington
41:43High School
41:44and various other places.
41:45They took George Washington's name.
41:47This was a sick,
41:49woke culture
41:50that I think
41:50we've largely ended.
41:52And a lot of those people
41:53that were woke
41:54are now turning out
41:55to be the opposite.
41:58I won't go so far
41:59as to say MAGA.
42:01It's a very special category.
42:03But they've gotten
42:04out of that.
42:06But we have people
42:08that love this country
42:09and they love this
42:09really beautiful capital.
42:12It is.
42:12I flew over it
42:13the other day
42:13and I said,
42:14what a beautiful place.
42:15But if there's crime
42:16all over the streets,
42:17when you get there,
42:19it doesn't look so beautiful.
42:20But we're going
42:20to make it beautiful again.
42:22We're going to fix it
42:23with crime
42:24and we're going to also,
42:25as we're doing that,
42:26we're going to start
42:26doing things
42:27that we know how to do
42:28that I know how to do
42:29better than anybody,
42:30I guess,
42:30because of my experience
42:32from previous life.
42:34But not only
42:35are we stopping the crime,
42:36we're going to
42:37clean up the trash
42:39and the graffiti
42:40and the grime
42:41and the dirt
42:42and the broken marble panels
42:44and all of the things
42:46they've done
42:46to hurt this city.
42:48And we're going
42:49to restore the city
42:50back to the gleaming capital
42:52that everybody
42:53wants it to be.
42:54It's going to be
42:55something very special.
42:57All of these people
42:58are really tough.
43:00Could I shake
43:00your hand,
43:01Gaddy, please?
43:01You're going to be
43:02so important to you.
43:03You're going to be
43:04you're going to be
43:05the guy I hope
43:06I don't have to fire him
43:07in two weeks
43:08because he's too soft.
43:09I don't think
43:10he's too soft.
43:11If I do, I will, though.
43:12Is it okay?
43:13If you're soft, weak
43:15and pathetic
43:16like so many people,
43:18I will fire you so fast.
43:21You're not going
43:21to have to worry about that.
43:23No, I think you're
43:23going to do a fantastic job.
43:25And everybody in this room,
43:26they may not express it,
43:27but they all want
43:28that to happen.
43:29You know, they want
43:29to be safe
43:30and they have families, too.
43:32So it's an honor
43:33to have such a large group.
43:35I've done this
43:36for years now.
43:37Hard to believe.
43:39I've never seen
43:39this room so packed.
43:42In fact, I'm sure
43:42it's a violation
43:43of every fire code.
43:47But we'll let you stay anyway.
43:49You're taking a chance.
43:51And with that,
43:52we'll say maybe
43:53if you could,
43:54oh, wow.
43:56We could be here
43:57all day long.
43:59If you could,
44:00if we could,
44:01if we could keep
44:02the first questions,
44:02perhaps,
44:03to this subject
44:05and then we'll go
44:05on to a few other things.
44:08Please.
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