Trump pledges to have homeless near the White House 'removed immediately'

President Trump vowed to “immediately” remove homeless people encamped near the White House.

“I think it’s terrible, and we’ll have them removed immediately,” he told reporters on Friday. “We’ve got to get the mayor to run this city properly. This city has to be run. You know I have the right to take it over, and I think it’s terrible.”

A reporter told Mr. Trump that the homeless people are outside along Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury Department building. 

The exchange comes one day after Mr. Trump directed the Justice Department to reduce laws and regulations that hinder cities’ ability to remove homeless people sleeping on streets, saying the move is necessary to crack down on crime and drug use. 

Under the executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi will take steps to “reverse judicial precedents and consent decrees” that limit local and state governments from removing homeless people from the streets and help move them into treatment centers. 

The order also commits federal funding to move people on the streets into treatment centers, though it was not immediately clear how much money is being allocated.

“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,” Mr. Trump’s directive stated. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens. My administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.”

The president has long decried the homeless encampments in Washington, saying it’s embarrassing for foreign leaders to see people sleeping on the streets when they visit the city. 

In March, Mr. Trump urged D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to clean up all of the “unsightly” homeless encampments, posting on social media that if she was “not capable of doing so, we will be forced to do it for her!”

Earlier this month, he announced that his administration has been “testing” the idea of taking over Washington, saying the federal takeover would reduce crime.

Ms. Bowser has pushed back against Mr. Trump’s criticism and proposed takeover, saying the president’s views of the city are out-of-date and left over from the “COVID environment” in 2021 at the end of his first term. 

She also complained that Mr. Trump’s comments are an “unnecessary distraction” and make Washingtonians anxious. 

Violent crime is down 25% and all crime is down 8% in the District of Columbia this year compared with a year ago, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department.