U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation's capital.

Though the Trump administration claims violence in the capital is getting worse, police statistics show violent crime has been declining.

President Donald Trump announced he is placing the Washington, DC, police department “under direct federal control” and deploying National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, saying the move is aimed at restoring order in the city.