Donald Trump has announced he is deploying the National Guard to tackle crime and homelessness in Washington, sparking legal concerns from the city's mayor over who will be patrolling the capital's streets.

In a news briefing on Monday, the US president said he was “deploying the National Guard to help re-establish law, order and public safety in Washington DC, and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly”.

Ahead of the news conference, Trump said on social media that the nation’s capital would be “LIBERATED today!” and that he would end the “days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people”.

Trump compared the crime in the American capital with that in other major cities, saying Washington performs poorly on safety relative to the capitals of Iraq, Brazil and Colombi

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