Homeless must accept treatment or face jail in Trump DC clean-up plan

Published August 12, 2025 3:34pm ET



Homeless people in Washington have three options under President Donald Trump’s crime control directives: homeless shelter, mental health or addiction treatment, or jail.

The plans for homeless people, many of whom suffer from mental health illnesses, were laid out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a Tuesday afternoon briefing while discussing the administration’s move to federalize control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy the National Guard to control the “public safety emergency” in the District of Columbia.

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