Donald Trump is preparing to deploy the National Guard to Washington, DC, as part of a major crime purge that will also involve banishing homeless people from the capital.

Around 120 FBI agents have already been reassigned to night patrol duties to tackle what Mr Trump claims are spiralling violent crime rates, The Washington Post reported.

The US president is expected to announce plans to deploy National Guard troops during a press conference on Monday.

White House officials said a total of some 450 federal officers, including those from the Drug Enforcement Administration and US Marshals Service, were deployed in the city on Saturday.

The FBI said in a statement that it was “participating in the increased federal law enforcement presence in Washington”.

Mr Trump has also declared that the city’s homeless population must “immediately” move out after he apparently noticed encampments on the route from the White House to his golf course in Virginia.