Banks Talks With CNN About Trump Taking Over DC Police and Deploying National Guard

August 11, 2025

CNN

William C. Banks

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy & Law

Conflict

Federal

U.S. National Security

Washington, D.C.

CNN

William C. Banks

As President Trump moved toward taking over the Washington, D.C., Police Department and deploying National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, CNN spoke to William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. Banks said Trump’s command of guard troops in the district makes it easier for them to participate in local law enforcement, which would typically require a governor’s request.

Banks said, “By statute, the president is made the commander of the DC Guard. In every other place, every other state, it’s the governor. Here, it’s the president.”

But Banks added that any national authorities would “have the same limits on their authority that they would anywhere else.”

“They have to respect the constitutional rights of the people so they can’t intimidate, they can’t search and seize without a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing,” added Banks. “They can’t target individuals on the basis of their political beliefs or their political expression.”