WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said at a White House press conference Monday that he is deploying the National Guard to assist in restoring law and order and public safety in Washington, DC.

Trump also stated that he has formally invoked the Home Rule Act to place the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.

"This is Liberation Day in DC, and we're going to take our capital back," Trump said.

Trump noted that his administration surged 500 federal agents into the district last week, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Park Police, the US Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Since Trump's return to the White House, he has repeatedly criticized violent crime and homelessness in Washington, DC, blaming the local government for poor management and threatening a federal takeover of the district.

In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, DC defended the capital's safety, saying "we have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low."