Trump announces 'days of killing are over' as he prepares to make major statement

 Donald Trump has promised to launch a tough crackdown on crime in Washington, as he has been tipped to deploy the National Guard to the streets of the capital. The US President has claimed that crime rates in the capital city are "totally out of control" and has previously threatened a federal takeover.

Last week, he ordered federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in the city, after a car-jacking attempt on a former White House staffer. Trump now appears set to go even further, after promising "to liberate Washington DC" in a post to his Truth Social website. "Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR," he wrote. "I will, MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN!

"The days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER! I quickly fixed the Border (ZERO ILLEGALS in last 3 months!), D.C. is next!!!"

Reports claim that the US President will announce that up to several hundred National Guard personnel will be sent to support law enforcement officers in the city.

The city's mayor, Muriel Bowser, said she was against the possible deployment and insisted crime rates were falling sharply in the city. "They're not law enforcement officials," she told the US media channel MSNBC in an interview on Sunday.

"So I'm concerned about that. And I just think that's not the most efficient use of our guard."

While acknowledging that crime had gone up in 2023, it had since been falling for two years in a row. District crime data showed that violent crime in the capital is down 26% when compared to last year.

The mayor also rebutted recent statements from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who called the nation's capital "more violent than Baghdad."

"Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false," she said.

Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington during the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd. And two months ago, he sent in troops to Los Angeles amid demonstrations against the President's ramped up immigration enforcement.