Trump executive order directs crackdown and beautification in District

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 27 March 2025 directing sweeping federal coordination to “make the District of Columbia safe, beautiful, and prosperous.” The order establishes a new DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, led by the White House Homeland Security Adviser, to coordinate enforcement, transit safety, and urban restoration efforts across multiple federal agencies.

As outlined in the official White House release, the order aims to increase federal law enforcement presence around the National Mall, Union Station, and key parkways; expand enforcement of immigration laws in the region; and clean graffiti and encampments on federal lands.

Participating agencies include the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, and Transportation, as well as the FBI, US Marshals, and Park Police. Local partners such as DC’s police department and the regional public transit authority are to coordinate on crime reduction, fare evasion enforcement, and concealed carry permitting.

The order also reinstates parts of a 2020 executive order on monument protection, directing the Interior Secretary to restore or replace “defaced or inappropriately removed” memorials.

Critics have raised civil rights and local governance concerns. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said the plan “usurps local authority and turns the city into a federal demonstration zone.” The executive order notably sidesteps D.C.’s home rule protections, reinforcing the administration’s growing assertiveness in asserting federal control over the capital.