Donald Trump has vowed to take "historic action" to tackle crime in Washington as he marked "liberation day for DC".

Speaking at a press conference in the White House, the US President told the world's media that he will "take our capital back" by deploying the National Guard into Washington.

Trump has announced a "federal control" crackdown on crime in Washington to "take back control" of the capital, declaring the situation is "getting worse" rather than better.

Donald Trump has announced he is taking 'historical action' to 'take our capital back'

Trump announced: "This is Liberation Day in DC and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States.

"I'm officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. I'm placing the DC Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control."

Confirming his plans to deploy the National Guard, Trump added: "I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington DC, and they're going to be allowed to do their job properly.

"You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe in going to a store to buy a newspaper or buy something, and you don't have that now."

Donald Trump has previously stated he 'wants our capital back'

Highlighting the state of crime in Washington, Trump declared that that their capital city has been "taken over by violent gangs".

The US President stated: "Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen anymore.

"We're not going to take it, just like we did on our southern border. Nobody comes through our southern border anymore."

Noting his crackdown on immigration, he added: "Three months in a row, we had zero people. I don't know if that's right, but the people that do the work, it's a very liberal group of people, actually, and they actually said zero for the last three months. Nobody thought a thing like that was possible."

The US President addressed the world at a press conference in the White House

Taking aim at former leader President Joe Biden, Trump declared that crime numbers were a "disaster", vowing to "do things about it like you wouldn't believe".

He said: "The numbers are not going down. And under Biden, it was a disaster and nobody did anything about it.

"We're going to do things about it like you wouldn't believe. Other cities are pretty bad, but they're not as bad as this. Is that where you want to live, the reporters of the world?

"Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons, it's getting worse. Not getting better, it's getting worse."