Donald Trump claimed he ordered the Secret Service to clear homeless encampments in Washington DC in a speech to the America First Policy Institute on Tuesday.
Mr Trump said he would send agents to remove clusters of tents “immediately” if he saw them set up near the White House.
“I would see a cluster of tents. I’d see it happening. I’d send people out immediately, Secret Service by the way did a phenomenal job,” he said.
“When you have hundreds of them and even thousands of them, very hard to do it, comes too late.”
Returning to DC for the first time since he left office in January 2021, Mr Trump claimed the city had become unrecognisable.
“They have tents with homeless, and others, all over I think the most beautiful public spaces in the world,” he said.
“They don’t look beautiful now.”
He said world leaders wouldn’t visit Washington DC due to the streets being covered in bottles and litter.
“Who is going to want to come to Washington DC?” he said.
“It leaves such a bad impression. They go home and say ‘what kind of a country has the United States turned into?’”
Jurisdiction for policing the camps and finding permanent homes for residents experiencing homelessness falls to city officials.
According to recent figures compiled by the Washington Post, homelessness in the US capital is at its lowest rate in 17 years.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is running for a third term, has pledged to eliminate homelessness in the city by 2024.
Mr Trump also unveiled a plan to create large tent cities on the outskirts of cities where homeless populations would be forced to live.
He didn’t provide any details on how he would implement the policy.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
