Donald Trump’s decision to federalize Washington, D.C., did what years of press conferences and pilot programs could not: it made the streets feel different in a matter of days. Some residents describe it as the first time in years they’ve walked home without clutching keys between their fingers, the first week their group chats weren’t just links to surveillance videos and police reports. They see the armored vehicles and joint task forces as overdue proof that someone in power finally took their fear seriously.

But on the same blocks, other residents have started memorizing license plates and escape routes. Parents rehearse what to say if an agent follows them from the playground. Local officers quietly admit they no longer know who’s really in charge on a call. What began as a crackdown on crime has become a stress test for democracy itself, forcing Washington to confront whether security built on terror can ever truly be called safe.