U.S. President Donald Trump says Washington, D.C. police officers are now "allowed to do whatever the hell they want" in response to perceived threats posed by protesters. The statement came as Trump declared a “public safety emergency” in the national capital on Monday, citing what he called “complete and total lawlessness,” and invoking the Home Rule Act to take federal control of the city’s police department and deploy the National Guard. Trump previously used the slogan "They spit, we hit" in response to protesters during the Los Angeles riots in June.