Trump admin updates: Trump teases 'big day' at White House

President Donald Trump said D.C.'s police force is adequately staffed and said he had heard of requests to add more to the force.

Trump repeatedly claimed there were 3,500 police in D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.

"I was told today, sure, they want more police. I heard a number 3,500 police. That's a lot of police -- 3,500," he said. "I thought they're going to say we only have 30 policemen or women. You said, 'We have 3,500. We need more.' You don't need more."

Trump said it was "ridiculous" to have more police officers.

"This is not a big area. It's ridiculous. What you need is rules and regulations, and you need the right people to implement them. And we have the right people here, that I can tell you," Trump said.

At a press conference on crime in Washington, President Donald Trump said he would work to change no-cash-bail policies and railed against Democrat-led cities that have implemented bail reforms like New York and Chicago.

"We're going to change no cash bail. We're going to change the statute and get rid of some of the other things, and we'll count on the Republicans in Congress and Senate to vote. We have the majority, so we'll vote," Trump said.

President Donald Trump held up papers displaying several charts, which he claimed showed D.C.'s crime rate compared to other countries' crime rates -- including those in Baghdad, Panama City, San Jose, Colombia and others.

Trump claimed D.C.'s crime rate is double or triple what the other countries experience.

"So do you want to live in places like that? I don't think so. I don't think so," he said.

"I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor," President Donald Trump said at a news conference on Monday morning.

The president said he was invoking Section 740 of the Home Rule Act and placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control as well as deploying the National Guard "to help reestablish law and order and public safety in Washington, D.C."

Despite Trump's claims, preliminary year-to-date crime comparisons from the Metropolitan Police Department show that overall crime in D.C. has decreased by 7% since last year.