President Donald Trump says homeless people in the nation’s capital will be moved far from the city as part of his federal takeover of policing in the District of Columbia and crackdown on crime.
With his exact plans unclear, there is concern among advocates and others who say there are better ways to address the issue of homelessness than clearing encampments, as the Republican administration has pledged to do.
Washington’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives Trump the opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.
Here’s a look at what we know and what questions remain about how Trump’s actions will affect the city’s homeless population:
How many homeless people are in Washington?
It is difficult to obtain accurate counts of homeless populations.
On one day at the end of each January, municipal agencies across the United States perform what is called a “point-in-time” count aimed at capturing the total number of people in emergency shelters, transitional housing or without any housing.
The 2025 count in the district put the total at 5,138 adults and children, a 9% decrease compared with the year before, according to Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Where will the city’s homeless people be taken?
It’s not entirely clear.
Trump wrote on his social media site before Monday’s news conference announcing the takeover that “The homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
Asked during a media briefing at the White House on Tuesday where homeless people would be relocated, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local police and federal agencies would “enforce the laws that are already on the books,” which, she said, “have been completely ignored.”
Citing a city regulation that she said gives local police “the authority to take action when it comes to homeless encampments,” Leavitt said homeless people “will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services.” Those who refuse “will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”
In the past five months, the U.S. Park Police has removed 70 homeless encampments, giving the people living in them the same options, she said. As of Tuesday, Leavitt said only two homeless encampments remained in district parks maintained by the National Park Service and would be removed this week.
What are city officials doing for the homeless?
District officials said Tuesday they were making additional shelter space available after Trump said federal agents would remove homeless people in the city.
Kevin Donahue, the city administrator, said outreach workers were visiting homeless encampments and that the city has a building available that could house as many as 200 people, if needed.
Donahue made the comments during a conversation with community advocates and Bowser. The conversation was broadcast on X.
He said the outreach would continue through the week with a “greater level of urgency.”
Bowser said that when Trump sees homeless encampments in the city it “triggers something in him that has him believing our very beautiful city is dirty, which it is not.”
What are people in Washington saying?
Washington residents emphasized reductions in crime in recent years and concerns over the removal of homeless encampments in interviews Tuesday criticizing the federal takeover of the city’s police department.
Jeraod Tyre, who has lived in the city for 15 years, said “crime has been slowing down lately” and argued that federal troops would only escalate tensions because they do not have “relationships with the people in the community” like local police do.
Sheiena Taylor, 36, said she is more fearful as a result of the presence of federal forces in the city where she was born and raised.
Taylor said she has seen federal officers around her home and on the subway and worries about their targeting of young people and people experiencing homelessness.
“Being homeless isn’t a crime,” she said, emphasizing the need for solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime rather than policing.
In several spots across the city, AP journalists talked to homeless people who were being told either by federal law enforcement officials or advocacy groups to pack up tents and belongings from parks and other public spaces before more formal removal measures. Some expressed fear and anxiety about what might be coming.
What do we still not know?
It’s not exactly clear what agents specifically will be tasked with moving homeless people to areas outside the city.
There also hasn’t been detailed information about how the people will be housed or provided for in new locations.
Some advocates have raised constitutional questions about the legality of forcibly removing homeless people from the city.
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Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Mike Balsamo and Darlene Superville; video journalist River Zhang; and photographer Jacquelyn Martin contributed to this report.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
