A Metropolitan police vehicle is parked near 14th Street SW and Independence Avenue SW, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal security presence due to crime rates in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

A top former Trump White House national security official is warning that the President’s federalization of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police and deployment of the National Guard and other federal agents to the nation’s capital is a “major step” toward martial law.

Olivia Troye is a Republican who worked at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the United States Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, as well as serving as Vice President Mike Pence’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor.

During a nearly 90-minute press conference on Monday, Trump threatened to also deploy to D.C. other U.S. Armed Forces and threatened that other major Democratic-run cities he sees as crime-ridden could be next.

Crime in Washington, D.C. is at a 30-year low, with double digit declines last year and this year, and is not in the top ten of violent or dangerous U.S. cities.

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“That Trump presser wasn’t about security or safety,” Troye wrote on Monday. “It was a major step towards martial law, something he’s always wanted.”

She also posed the following questions related to the President’s announcement:

“In 2020, FBI & other federal law enforcement warned against misusing them in DC—they’re fine with it now?”

“Why deploy the National Guard to DC today, but not on Jan 6, the most violent moment in years for the city?”

Brian Schwalb, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia wrote: “The Administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia. Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year. We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.”

Others have raised the specter of martial law and authoritarianism.

“Trump watched the insurrection from the White House and thought it was fine, but now he wants to put DC under martial law,” noted Naveed Shah, political director of the progressive veterans group Common Defense.

“Make no mistake: federalizing the police and deploying the National Guard to DC isn’t about a non-existent crime wave. It’s an authoritarian move to crush dissent and strip Americans of their right to self-govern. This is a chilling precedent for every city in America,” wrote attorney Andrew Weinstein, a Visiting Fellow for the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship.

In response to a video clip of Trump threatening to duplicate these efforts in New York City, Baltimore, and Oakland, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz wrote: “The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting.”

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Political scientist and political risk researcher Ian Bremmer noted that President Trump is “gradually normalizing use of the national guard in liberal cities. had he done this in his first term, people would be outraged and take to the streets. now not so much. paves the way for using the national guard at a more strategically important time. say, during elections.”

“The president teasing martial [law] for multiple American cities is a dangerous and unlawful power grab,” warned Constitutional Law Professor Anthony Michael Kreis. “The Anglo-American constitutional tradition has rejected this kind of arbitrary rule as far back as the Petition of Right in 1628. This is the stuff of a wannabe tinpot Stuart king.”

Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker took another tack: mocking the President.

See his remarks and watch the video below or at this link.