US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Washington residents "feel so safe already", after he ordered federal agents and members of the National Guard to patrol the streets in support of local law enforcement.
The White House has said the move was needed amid a surge in violent crime, although city officials say crime has been decreasing in recent years.
"I had calls from many, many friends, including Democrats, a lot of Democrat friends ... and they were thanking me so much for what I'm doing in DC," Mr Trump told reporters from the Oval Office.
"So we will have crime under control very shortly in DC."
Mr Trump said Washington officials and police had "fudged" the crime statistics to make it seem as if violent incidents were going down.
"We're going to be getting the criminals the hell out of here. People are so happy to see our military going into DC and getting these thugs out of there," he said.
The federal intervention is supposed to last 30 days but Mr Trump has said he will have Republicans in Congress push for extensions.
A significant rise in the number of troops and federal agents could be seen on the streets on Thursday after the White House said the day before that more would be on patrol.
It has said that more arrests are being made and homeless people are being forced to remove their tents from public spaces.
The Pentagon says the 800 National Guard members who have been activated will have missions that include monument security and community safety patrols. They will not be armed, according to the Pentagon, and the White House said they will help with crowd control but will not be making arrests.
National Guard Maj Micah Maxwell said troops will assist federal and local law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic and crowd control. The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics as well as the proper use of crowd control equipment, Maj Maxwell said.
Mr Trump has described the residents of Washington as "happy" to see troops and agents on the streets, but a viral video shows a man confronting a law enforcement officer and hitting him with a sandwich.
The man was charged with a felony and fired from his job at the Justice Department.
