President Donald Trump said he is considering reopening government-run mental health institutions during a Friday interview in the Oval Office, arguing that severely mentally ill individuals need help — and should not be “walking around” on American streets.
Trump said it was part of a broader crime crackdown that has successfully transformed Washington, DC, into what he calls a “crime-free zone” in just weeks.
When asked about reopening insane asylums for people with serious mental illness, Trump didn’t hesitate. “Yeah I would,” he said.
“Well, they used to have them, and you never saw people like we had, you know, they used to have them. And what happened is states like New York and California that had them, New York had a lot of them. They released them all into society because they couldn’t afford it,” the president said.
The president recalled specific New York facilities from his youth, including Creedmoor and Bellevue.
“You know, it’s massively expensive. But we had, they were all over New York. I remember when I was growing up, Creedmoor. They had a place, Creedmoor, they had a lot of them, Bellevue, and they were closed by a certain governor,” Trump said.
The consequences of closing these facilities was devastating for American society, Trump claimed.
“And I remember when they did, it was a long time ago, and I said they didn’t release these people? And they did. They released them into society, and that’s what you have. It’s a rough, it’s a rough situation,” he said. “Because, you can’t have these people walking around,” Trump emphasized, calling the situation “so dangerous.”
Trump’s comments come after the dramatic success of his Washington, DC, crime initiative. The president federalized the DC Metropolitan Police Department and deployed National Guard troops through his DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, created on August 7.
The results have been remarkable. As of August 29, federal and local authorities have made 1,369 arrests since the operation began. Among those arrested were 12 known gang members from MS-13 and the violent Venezuelan gang TDA. The operation has also rescued five missing children and cleared 50 homeless encampments throughout the district.
“Yeah, I call it a crime free zone because we don’t play games,” Trump said about the Capitol city.
The transformation has been so dramatic that even Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has praised the results.
“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” Bowser said at a recent press conference. “We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer, so this surge has been important to us.”
The mayor’s office has been working directly with Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on the operation.
The president said residents are now comfortable going to restaurants and walking the streets after years of avoiding downtown Washington.
“People are going to restaurants that haven’t gone out in four years. They didn’t even want to go in their car because they get the you know, they have.. you see, the carjacking is down 87 percent,” Trump said. “I mean, I knew we were going to do it, but it went faster than I thought… Now, in two weeks, it’s going to be even better.”
Trump has indicated plans to expand similar operations to other Democrat-run cities struggling with crime, including Chicago and New York.
The president’s willingness to reopen mental health institutions is a bold return to an older approach to handling severe mental illness and crime, one that fell out of favor decades ago.
Many of these facilities were closed starting in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the deinstitutionalization movement, which aimed to move patients from large state hospitals into community settings. Critics argued the closures have contributed to homelessness and untreated mental illness on American streets.