Days after Donald Trump announced the temporary federal control of the police in Washington, D.C., people living in homeless encampments have started packing up, and some camps have already been cleared.
The president said on Monday, Aug. 11, that he was taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department and sending the National Guard to address crime and target the homeless population.
Since then, residents have seen bulldozers clearing abandoned tents, notes on tents telling people to leave, and garbage trucks collecting belongings.
On Friday, Aug. 15, the New York Post reported that 75 encampments around the capital had been cleared. The Department of the Interior confirmed that United States Park Police carried out the removals since Trump signed his “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order in March.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said at a news conference that police had removed 70 encampments since Trump’s order.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Washington-DC-homeless-encampment-dismantled-02-081625-b1fc01ffb378407499ed73850e99e609.jpg)
It is unclear how many more camps have been cleared as of Saturday, Aug. 16. A spokesperson for the department did not respond immediately to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
According to The Washington Post, D.C.’s Health and Human Services started removing a camp near the Kennedy Center after giving residents one day’s notice. They set a 10 a.m. deadline. A spokesperson said the site was eligible for quick removal because it was near a highway and referred questions about White House involvement to the mayor’s office.
Nonprofit outreach workers helped residents move their belongings and offered shelter to those in the camp.
D.C. Council member Brianne K. Nadeau told the Post that such “dramatic action” hurts “the trust we have built with folks living outside” and makes it harder to help them get permanent housing.
David Beatty, 65, told NPR on Thursday, when crews began dismantling a small camp near the Lincoln Memorial: “It just feels wrong to me. The idea that we’re poor makes them uncomfortable. They don’t want to be reminded that poor people exist.”
He also told USA Today that Trump is “targeting us and persecuting us” and “wants to take our freedom away.”
During a White House press conference this week, Trump said officials would be “removing homeless encampments from all over our parks,” claiming that people without homes cannot “turn our capital into a wasteland.”
Experts told NPR that between 800 and 900 people sleep on the streets of Washington each night during summer. Some experiencing homelessness said they feel unsafe in other city shelters. Dana White from Miriam’s Kitchen said shelter space in the city is “very limited.”
“No, I don’t want to be there. Shelters are not the best option because they cram people in there and you [aren’t] always sure of who is who,” said Jessy Wall, who spoke with NPR while packing his belongings.
Wall told USA Today that he found a note on his tent Wednesday night saying it would be removed the next day. He moved into the tent a year ago and doesn’t know where he will go in the coming weeks. He called the removal of camps “cruel.”
Earlier this week, Trump put Attorney General Pam Bondi in charge of city police and warned that other military forces could be deployed “if needed.” He later said he might extend the initial 30-day control of D.C. police and expand it to other cities. He also mentioned this while announcing the 2025 Kennedy Center nominees.
“That’s going to serve as a beacon for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other places all over the country,” Trump said. “Our whole country is going to be so different and so great. It’s going to be clean and safe and beautiful, and people are going to love our flag more than they’ve ever loved it. And we’re going to do a great job.”
Trump’s actions have led to protests in the city, with some residents calling them extreme and accusing the White House of trying to distract from the Epstein files.
Even though Trump claimed the move is necessary, crime rates in D.C. have been falling over the past year and a half. Violent crime in 2025 is down 26% from 2024. Trump, without evidence, has claimed that crime numbers have been manipulated to hide the real levels of crime in the city.
