Analysts and advocates for people who are homeless were outraged on Sunday after President Donald Trump issued a warning to the unhoused in Washington, D.C.

Trump posted on Truth Social that people experiencing unsheltered homelessness must “move out immediately.” It was issued at a time when federal data shows homelessness increased by 18% between 2023 and 2024, with more than 771,000 people who are homeless counted during the last survey.

“We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital (sic). The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” Trump’s post reads in part.

Analysts and advocates for people who are homeless responded on social media.

“The billionaires at the Cicero Institute have their hands all over these shameful steps,” Jesse Rabinowitz, an activist and spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center, wrote on Bluesky.

“Again, Republicans are using DC as a sandbox for their failed, racist, and backwards policies. Pay attention to what happens here, because it will soon happen everywhere,” Rabinowitz added.

“I hardly see anybody on the streets in DC these days. If there are encampments, they’re hiding,” Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, wrote on LinkedIn. “Could it be somebody thinks he can prove how tough he is by threatening … people who are homeless??”

“Trump is going to traffic homeless people,” Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director for the Campaign for New York Health, wrote on X. “Many won’t have ID, and will likely end up incarcerated with immigrants who are being arrested, trafficked, and detained, without due process.”

“People are not criminals or dangerous, by virtue of their unhoused status,” the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless wrote on X. People are struggling to afford rent and food in an expensive city. We should not have homelessness in our nation’s capital. But the path to ending homelessness is housing, not displacement.