D.C. policy says they give residents of homeless encampments two weeks’ notice of any removals. After President Trump ordered D.C. to clear some camps, D.C. gave just one day’s notice. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
As more people experience chronic homelessness in D.C., homeless encampments are more common.
In a message posted to social media Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said Mayor Muriel Bowser must clear what he called “unsightly” homeless encampments or federal officials will. He targeted encampments near the White House and the State Department.
Bowser responded by ordering the immediate removal of an encampment of about 10 tents near the E Street Expressway and State Department. Residents were given just one day’s notice that they must leave. City policy listed online says residents will receive 14 days’ notice of an encampment removal.
Trump’s online post said: “We have notified the Mayor of Washington, D.C., that she must clean up all of the unsightly homeless encampments in the City, specifically including the ones outside of the State Department, and near the White House. If she is not capable of doing so, we will be forced to do it for her!” the post said. “Washington, D.C. must become CLEAN and SAFE! We want to be proud of our Great Capital again. Thank you Mayor Bowser for your efforts on behalf of the Citizens of our Country. Hopefully you will be successful!”
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Bowser told reporters that after the post appeared online, she received a call from the White House.
“I think what the social media post said is that they notified us, and I got a call from a staffer that said that there was an encampment, and we don't know how long it had been there or how it had developed. Sometimes what happens is if one encampment closes, another one grows, and we think that may have happened in that case,” she said.
The mayor said the encampment along the E Street Expressway prompted the White House’s call.
Bowser said she replied, “Thanks for the notice. We’ll take care of it.”
Within hours of that call, D.C. government employees visited the encampment and posted notices alerting people living in the tents that they have until Friday at noon to gather all of their belongings and move.
Overall, 12 encampments are slated for removal. Residents of all but the one cited by the White House appear to have been given several weeks’ notice that they must leave.
When asked why the city sped up enforcement of the E Street Expressway site, Bowser would not explain.
“We responded to the location identified,” she said.
News4 spoke with several people who were preparing for the move. They said they refuse to go to shelters and will simply relocate their tents to another location a few blocks away.
Shelter space for single adults is available, and there is a voucher system to get people back into permanent housing. People cannot be forced to accept housing.
Overall homelessness is down 12% since 2020. But people living in encampments are mostly single individuals who are considered chronically homeless. The most recent count shows chronic homelessness has gone up by about 4% over the past four years.
Since Trump’s first term, he has been vocal about crime, graffiti and homeless encampments in D.C.
Not all homeless encampments in the District are under D.C. control. The National Park Service typically oversees cleanups of encampments on federally owned land, such as an encampment clearing News4 caught on video in May.
D.C.’s data on homelessness in the city from 2020 to 2024 says homelessness was at its lowest in 2022. By 2024, homelessness had increased again but was still lower than pre-pandemic levels by 12%.
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