Attorney General Pam Bondi took to social media Friday morning to tout the Trump administration's success in securing the streets of the nation's capital from violent crime.
"719 arrests and 91 illegal guns seized in Washington, DC," Bondi wrote on X, citing the most recent statistics. "Just yesterday we made 40 arrests, took 5 more illegal firearms off our streets, and had 36 ICE arrests—including a suspected MS-13 gang member."
Bondi also recognized President Donald Trump's role in tackling the city's crime problem.
"Thank you @POTUS for your unwavering support to make DC safe again!" she added.
The president issued an order last week directing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to "provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes," as well as a memorandum directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "to mobilize the District of Columbia National Guard and order members to active service" to address what he has described as a wave of lawlessness in the city.
In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Trump said the federal takeover of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department is a "test" that could ultimately become a template for other crime-ridden cities.
"We're doing a sort of a test right now in D.C. It's working unbelievably, much faster than we thought," Trump said in an interview with "The Todd Starnes Show" that re-aired on "Greg Kelly Reports" on Thursday night.
"We've arrested hundreds of criminals — hard-line criminals, people that will never be any good, I don't care what they say," he added. "We got them out of the system. And, you know, unfortunately, we have a lot of cities like that."
Early Friday, Trump threatened a full federal takeover of D.C. and accused Bowser of pushing "inaccurate crime figures."
"Mayor Muriel Bowser must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total federal takeover of the city!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. "Washington, D.C. will soon be great again!
"Washington, D.C. is SAFE AGAIN!" he also said in the post. "The crowds are coming back, the spirit is high, and our D.C. National Guard and Police are doing a fantastic job. They are out in force, and are NOT PLAYING GAMES!!! As bad as it sounds to say, there were no murders this week for the first time in memory."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.