WAPO: New Poll Finds 80% Want Trump to GTFO of D.C.

August 25, 2025

A new Washington Post–Schar School poll shows that Washington, D.C., residents overwhelmingly oppose President Donald Trump’s move to flood the city with federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in response to what he has described as a high crime problem.

The random sample survey of 604 residents, conducted between August 14 and 17, found that 65 percent do not believe the presence of FBI agents and Guard troops from multiple states makes the city any safer. Eight out of ten residents oppose Trump’s executive order to federalize local law enforcement, with seven in ten saying they “strongly” oppose it.

Despite Trump’s claims of a crime crisis, 78 percent of those polled said they feel either “very safe” or “somewhat safe” in their own neighborhoods. Mark J. Rozell, dean of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, told the Post that residents are pushing back against Trump’s messaging. “Trump’s overheated rhetoric about D.C. crime has evoked strong feelings among many residents offended by such characterizations of their city,” Rozell said. “A federalized takeover of any aspect of a city’s operations will naturally create a backlash, and that is clearly happening here. Residents are saying it is not as bad as the president claims, and they want to reclaim the image of their city against a presidential narrative that is tarnishing D.C.’s reputation.”

The same poll also found strong support for statehood: 72 percent back the idea of Washington becoming the 51st state, with 55 percent calling it “extremely important” that the District govern itself without federal oversight.