DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON — As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation's capital around the clock starting Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump's announcement that his administration would take over the city's police department for at least a month.

The city's Democratic mayor walked a political tightrope, referring to the takeover as an "authoritarian push" at one point and later framing the infusion of officers as a boost to public safety, though one with few barometers for success.

The Republican president claims crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix — even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent

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