President Trump and the Biblical Justification for Government Restraining Evil

President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. comes in the wake of the capital city’s horrific spike in crime.

Despite claims to the contrary, the 68 square miles on the Potomac River bordering Maryland and Virginia hasn’t been a safe place to be for a long time. Anyone who has been there recently can attest to the area’s problems. When it comes to what he sees outside the White House windows and when driving by in his motorcade, President Trump didn’t mince his words.

“[Washington, D.C.] 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,” declared Mr. Trump.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the president’s announcement “unsettling and unprecedented,” but the same can be said of the city’s unsafe streets.

With the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country, Washington, D.C.’s murder rate is three times higher than it is in Islamabad, Pakistan. So far in 2025, there have been 1,600 violent crimes in the city. Carjackings have tripled since 2018.

Given his decision to deploy 800 National Guard troops to the city, critics of President Trump are accusing him of turning the capital into a police state. He’s being called an authoritarian bully for trying to protect Americans.

Under the United States Constitution, the president of the United States, along with members of Congress, are obligated to keep our country and its citizens safe. Greg Pemberton, who serves as chairman of the Metropolitan Police Department union, welcomes the arrival of federal troops in the city. He called Monday’s decision “a critical stopgap.”

In announcing his decision from the White House on Monday, President Trump made clear that his motivation was safety, law, and order.

While not citing the Bible, President Trump was actually mirroring what Scripture has to say about the role of government in everyday life, specifically its call to restrain evil. Wrote the apostle Paul to believers in Rome:

“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:3-4).

The apostle Peter also wrote:

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperoras supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:13-14).

We can and should be suspicious of government overreach, but properly applied and implemented, good government is a servant and not a master.

Please join me in praying for the citizens of Washington, D.C. and especially for law enforcement tasked with restoring peace and restraining evil.