WASHINGTON — DC officials and volunteers began taking down a major homeless encampment Thursday amid President Trump’s crackdown on crime and push to beautify the nation’s capital.
City crews and helpers were spotted clearing out a camp near the Lincoln Memorial and Kennedy Center after denizens were warned Wednesday to move on.
At least one Bobcat bulldozer and a city dump truck were seen picking up and disposing of tents and other paraphernalia.
On Sunday, Trump vowed to push the homeless off the streets of DC, saying on Truth Social: “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
“We’re going to take all the graffiti off. We’re going to have to remove the tents and the people that are living in our parks,” the president said during a visit to the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
“We’re going to be redoing the parks, the grasses and all. We’re going to be going to Congress for a relatively small amount of money,” he added. “The Republicans are going to be approving it.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Tuesday that “homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again.”
“We already have extensive outreach to our unhoused residents,” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told FOX 5 Thursday. “Some of them already on federal property, some of them at other sites throughout the city.
The city is clearing a homeless encampment near the Kennedy Center amid the White House cracking down on homelessness. The nearly dozen unhoused individuals were notified yesterday to move out, aka “immediate disposition” from the city. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/aG0yn2HHvJ
— Matthew Torres (@News_MTorres) August 14, 2025
“We have shelter capacity, and we want them to come in. That’s always our message. It’s especially our message right now. We want you to come into shelter and our outreach workers can tell you how to do it.”
The Office of DC’s Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Since the Trump administration ordered federal law enforcement to hit the DC streets Aug. 7 to tackle crime and filth, authorities have arrested more than 150 people on charges including homicide and drug and weapons violations.
Another 60 arrestees are suspected of being in the US illegally.
Authorities have also seized 27 firearms so far.
“President Trump’s bold leadership is quickly making our nation’s capital safer,” White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers told reporters. “President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to clean up this city and restore American Greatness to our cherished capital.”
On Monday, Trump invoked his DC Home Rule Act powers to place the Metropolitan Police Department and placed Attorney General Pam Bondi in charge of coordinating with local cops.
Under the law, Trump has the MPD at his disposal until Sept. 10, after which point Congress will need to approve continued federal control of the department.
The president has also activated the DC National Guard to protect federal assets.
The aggressive measures to curtail crime in the nation’s capital come in response to a series of high-profile crimes, including an assault on former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee Edward Coristine — aka “Big Balls” — as he attempted to prevent a carjacking.
A White House official told The Post that the administration has shifted the federal law enforcement operation to a 24/7 footing after initially focusing its patrols on the evening and overnight hours.
The feds and DC cops are targeting known and wanted gang members and drug dealers and planning to send special teams to crime hotspots in the District, the official added.
DC Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith has acknowledged that the added reinforcements have helped with combating crime, telling Fox 5 that “this enhanced presence clearly is going to impact us in a positive way.”
