In remarks on crime in D.C., President Trump defended his takeover of the city's police force.

"The Democrats are afraid to do anything because they don't want to be criticized. But fighting crime is a good thing," Trump said.

"Instead of saying he's a dictator, they should say we're going to join him and make Washington safe," Trump said.

President Trump pledged to make Washington "crime-free" as he spoke at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.

"We're going to be essentially crime-free. This is going to be a beacon, and it's going to also serve as an example of what can be done," Trump said.

This week, Trump announced a federal takeover of the Washington police force and a deployment of National Guard troops in response to what he said was a problem with crime and homelessness in the nation's capital.

"I'm determined to make Washington, D.C., safe, clean and beautiful again. It's going to take place very rapidly. Be prepared," Trump said on Wednesday.

Trump went on at length about various aspects of Washington he wanted to see updated, including the grass.

"We're going to be redoing the parks, redoing the grass. You know, grass has a lifetime, like people have a lifetime and the lifetime of this grass has long been gone," he said. "When you look at the parks where the grass is, old, tired, exhausted. We're going to redo the grass with the finest grasses. I know a lot about grass because I own a lot of golf courses. And if you don't have good grass you're not in business very long."

President Trump on Wednesday announced this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.

The honorees are country music singer George Strait, English performer Michael Crawford, American actor Sylvester Stallone, disco singer Gloria Gaynor and the rock band KISS.

Trump said he agreed to host this year's ceremony.

Before speaking on each recipient's accomplishments, Trump joked he always wanted to be honored and maybe would honor himself.

"Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts. I wanted one. I was never able to get one this year. It's true. Actually, I would have taken if they would have called me. I waited and waited and waited and I said, 'The hell with it, I'll become chairman and I'll give myself an honor.' Maybe I'm going to honor -- next year, we'll honor Trump."

There were over 1,450 federal law enforcement and National Guard participants in Tuesday night's operation as part of a surge in forces in Washington, D.C., according to a White House official.

Those forces included 750 D.C. Metro Police officers who were "uniformed, marked as patrol, and directly assigned as anti-crime officers," the White House official said. That was in addition to the federal law enforcement who had been previously mobilized in the district.

The White House Official said that there were about 30 National Guard troops on the ground last night. The White House official said that forces made 43 arrests last night, which is nearly twice the amount they made the night before. The official said that 19 inter-agency teams have "deployed throughout all seven districts in DC to promote public safety and arrest violent offenders."

The surge in federal law enforcement has yielded more than 100 total arrests since it began on August 7, according to a White House official. The official said the charges have included one homicide charge, seven narcotics charges, 33 firearms charges, 10 warrants, 23 charges against undocumented immigrants and 29 other charges. The official adds they have seized 24 firearms since operations began.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart