Former Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said this week that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were making rookie mistakes by sending National Guard troops to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital.
Speaking on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” Monday, Gainer said, “He’s overestimating his assessment of what those National Guard personnel can do now and demonstrating his inexperience in policing and a complex environment.”
Trump announced earlier in the month that Washington, D.C.’s, police would be put under federal control and National Guard troops have been deployed after a public safety emergency.
Using temporary powers from the Home Rule Act of 1973, the president can oversee the police for up to 30 days, but any extension would need congressional approval or a legal amendment.
For the first time in years, D.C. carjackings have decreased 83%, according to the National Police Association.
“The National Guard, as it’s configured now, is not prepared to do this,” Gainer said. “There are good men and women there who are trained to do a particular function: war fighting or emergencies in the state or train rails and fires and flood. In this particular endeavor, arming those men and women and putting them in harm’s way is risky and dangerous.”
Gainer called the order of the Trump administration “a dereliction of duty” and added “the people making these decisions need to get their head straight and think through what they’re trying to do to these men and women.”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described Trump’s decision to take over the city’s police department as “unsettling and unprecedented.”
During a press conference following the announcement, Bowser disputed Trump’s justification for declaring a crime emergency, noting that crime rates had been trending down after a post-pandemic spike.
Bowser acknowledged Trump’s authority under the Home Rule Act but emphasized that the city’s police officers still reported to her. Bowser also highlighted the need for D.C. statehood to prevent such federal interventions in the future.
Despite her concerns, she indicated a willingness to cooperate with federal authorities adding, “I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster. Let me put it that way.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
