U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will deploy hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops on the streets of Washington as part of a push to rein in violent crime, even as local police data shows those incidents are down sharply this year.

Trump is also moving to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department, placing the municipal agency directly under the control of people who report to the president.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump described the nation's capital as a crime-infested hellscape that requires a heavy-handed federal approach to bring "bloodthirsty" criminals and "drugged-out maniacs" to heel.

"This is liberation day in D.C. and we're going to take our capital back," Trump said. "This is a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from c

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