The Art Of The D.C. Clean Up

President Trump deserves immense credit for making sweeping changes to clean up the appearance of our nation's capital.

On August 11, 2025, President Donald Trump did something that no other president in modern memory has dared to do: he effectively took over Washington, D.C.’s policing operations.

In a sweeping declaration of a public safety emergency, he deployed about 800 National Guard troops, assigned 120 FBI agents to night patrols, and put the D.C. Metropolitan Police under the direct control of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The mission? To clean up the capital—its rising crime rates and, yes, the sprawling homeless encampments that have been swallowing sidewalks and city parks.

The reaction from some corners was immediate outrage—how dare the president flex federal muscle in the nation’s capital? But for those of us who have actually visited D.C. anytime recently, it’s hard not to think: finally.

For too long, the capital of the United States—the city that houses the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court—has looked less like the shining beacon of democracy and more like a live-action hellscape from a horror movie. Tourists and school trips meandering through downtown D.C. to learn about the history of our great nation are confronted with makeshift shantytowns, hypodermic needles and smells worse than J.B. Pritzker’s bathroom the morning after a long night at Big Ed’s Bar-B-Que.

For Democrats — who seem just fine with this nightmare — it’s been like inviting guests over for dinner, letting someone pitch a dung-filled tent in the middle of your dining room—and then acting offended when guests ask: is this really where we’re going to eat?

Now, let’s be realistic. Federalizing the police isn’t going to magically fix the tangled mess of causes behind homelessness. No one’s pretending it will. But in politics—as in hosting dinner parties—appearances matter. And in Washington, D.C., the entire city is the stage. When world leaders, diplomats, and tourists step off the plane, they’re not just visiting a city; they’re seeing America’s face.

And if that face is covered in human feces a block from the White House, guess what—they’re not going to be thinking “land of the free,” they’re going to be thinking “third-world cosplay”.

I’ve been to plenty of European capitals—Paris, Vienna, etc.—and they all had something in common: they were mostly immaculate. Even cities with homelessness managed to keep their central government and tourist districts pristine. Plazas were relatively clean, parks were manicured, and the trash was taken out before it could audition for a permanent role as Hunter Biden’s latest piece of conceptual art.

Meanwhile, our capital has apparently decided that the streets around our most important buildings should double as open-air living rooms. We wouldn’t tolerate this outside Buckingham Palace or the Élysée Palace—so why is it fine outside the White House? Is our new national motto “We tried nothing, and we’re all out of ideas”?

And this is where Trump’s move makes perfect sense. Sometimes, you can’t wait for the “perfect” long-term plan to magically appear out of a think-tank PowerPoint deck. Sometimes, you have to make the place look presentable right now. Remember — like we did for Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to San Francisco?

And frankly, it’s jaw-dropping that President Biden didn’t seem to have enough pride—or even basic situational awareness—to do anything visible to try and clean up D.C.

This is the same ostrich routine we’ve seen on the border: if you just bury your head in the sand and hum loudly enough, maybe people won’t notice the absolute chaos which begs people to assume gross incompetence, if not an outright goal of singlehandedly destroying the country and its image.

There’s nothing shallow about caring how your country looks. It’s not “cosmetic,” it’s called “national pride.” When visitors—whether foreign dignitaries or American schoolkids—arrive in Washington, what they see should tell them we are a capable, functioning nation that respects itself.

Right now, what they see too often screams “we’ve given up.” And nothing broadcasts “we’ve lost control” like a tent city and drug-addled homeless within selfie range of the White House.

So yes—bravo, Trump. You’ve reminded people that presentation is part of patriotism.

In Washington, appearances aren’t just about looking good for the cameras; they’re about signaling competence, pride, and respect. If that means a show of force to restore order, so be it.

Because sometimes the fastest way to fix a broken system is to start by sweeping the front porch—especially when the front porch happens to be the front porch of America.

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