House Democrat: 'Pretty clear' Trump 'wants his own domestic police force' [View all]

Source: The Hill

08/12/25 3:44 PM ET


Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Tuesday it is “pretty clear” President Trump “wants his own domestic police force” after the president took control of the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

“Look, this president is trampling on basic freedoms of the American people to a degree we — I don’t think we’ve ever seen,” Smith said on CNN. “You see that with what the ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents are doing, in terms of picking people up off the streets with no evidence, no due process, locking people up.”

“This is happening all across the country,” the Evergreen State Democrat added. “Look, it’s pretty clear the president wants his own domestic police force, and step by step, he’s trying to create it, and we should be deeply alarmed by that, regardless of how you feel about crime in Washington, D.C., or any other city.”

Trump announced Monday he was taking federal control of D.C.’s police department and deploying the National Guard in the city in an attempt to fight crime.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5448930-adam-smith-trump-police-dc/