West Virginia to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to D.C.
The move comes as federal agents and National Guard troops have begun to appear across the heavily Democratic city after President Trump's executive order on Monday, federalizing local police forces and activating about 800 D.C. National Guard troops.
Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Saturday that he was sending a contingent of 300 to 400 members.
"West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation's capital," Morrisey said.
By adding outside troops to join the existing National Guard deployment and federal law enforcement officers temporarily assigned to Washington, Mr. Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It's a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though district officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump's first term in office.
A White House official told CBS News Saturday that National Guard members deployed to D.C. "may be armed," but that they would not make arrests. This was a reversal from earlier in the week, when a Defense Department official told CBS News that deployed Guard members would not be armed at the request of local law enforcement partners. The official also said at the time they would not have weapons in their vehicles.
"The National Guard is not making arrests at this time – they may be armed, consistent with their mission and training, to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence," the White House official said Saturday.
A protest against Mr. Trump's intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday afternoon before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said "No fascist takeover of D.C.," and some in the crowd held signs that said "No military occupation." Mr. Trump was at his Virginia golf club after Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The West Virginia activation also suggests the administration sees the need for additional manpower after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers.
Maj. Gen. James Seward, West Virginia's adjutant general, said in a statement that members of the state's National Guard "stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region" and that the Guard's "unique capabilities and preparedness make it an invaluable partner in this important undertaking."
Federal agents have appeared in some of the city's most highly trafficked neighborhoods, garnering a mix of praise, pushback and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country.
City leaders, who are obliged to cooperate with the president's order under the federal laws that direct the district's local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president's takeover.
On Friday, the administration reversed course on an order that aimed to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as an "emergency police commissioner" after the district's top lawyer sued to contest. After a court hearing, Attorney General Pam Bond issued a memo that directed the Metropolitan Police Department to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.
District officials say they are evaluating how to best comply.
In his order on Monday, Mr. Trump declared an emergency due to the "city government's failure to maintain public order." He said that impeded the "federal government's ability to operate efficiently to address the nation's broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence."
In a letter to city residents, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that "our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now." She added that if Washingtonians stick together, "we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don't have full access to it."
Air Canada flight attendants' strike grounds hundreds of planes
West Virginia sending National Guard troops to D.C. at Trump's request
War-weary Ukrainians desperate for a ceasefire
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
a minute ago
- Bloomberg
Mered CEO on Factors Driving Dubai Property Boom
Dubai's housing boom that began in late 2020 has continued despite Trump's tariff policies and conflict in the region. Michael Belton, CEO of Dubai-based developer Mered, spoke with Bloomberg's Chief Africa Correspondent Jennifer Zabasajja on Horizons: Middle East and Africa about the surge in property prices, and whether Dubai may be heading toward a bubble. (Source: Bloomberg)
CNBC
a minute ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Trump's 'peace' for Ukraine doesn't seem like what Zelenskyy wants
There was no deal when U.S. President Donald Trump met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. That was not unexpected. The summit, which was initially arranged to discuss a ceasefire to Moscow's war in Ukraine, was on Tuesday reframed by White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt as a "listening exercise" that allowed Trump to get a "better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end." Prior to the summit, analysts were already casting doubt on the talks advancing any real ceasefire in Ukraine. "Let's be clear, Putin does not take Trump seriously," Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC. And the fact that the summit was scheduled — and Putin invited to Alaska, the first time he stepped on U.S. soil in about a decade — was already a "big win" for the Kremlin leader, according to a comment by Richard Portes, head of the economics faculty at the London Business School, before the meeting took place. While no agreement was reached, Trump on Friday described the meeting as "very productive" — and announced the next day that he would be pursuing a "peace agreement" rather than a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. But peace means very different things to the Ukraine, Russia and America. To one, it could be the complete halt of armed warfare and the retreat of foreign troops from its soil. To another, it might seem like acquiring annexed territory. And for some, it might look like a shiny golden coin engraved with the profile of Alfred Nobel, regardless of the prerequisites. Trump calls on Ukraine to 'end the war with Russia.' The U.S. president on Sunday said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can either stop the conflict or "continue to fight." Putin has agreed that the U.S. and European nations could give Ukraine "Article 5-like" security guarantees, the White House said. OpenAI in share sales talk that would value it at $500 billion. The shares would be sold by current and former employees to investors including SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital, according to a source. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperforms. Major stock indexes ended Friday mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising a fractional 0.08%. Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday. China's CSI 300 hit its highest level since October 2024. A trip by U.S. trade officials to India has been called off. The visit, which was expected to take place between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29, will likely be rescheduled, according to Indian news broadcaster NDTV Profit. [PRO] Fedspeak to parse for the week. Minutes for the U.S. Federal Reserve's August meeting come out Wednesday, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at Jackson Hole, a symposium of economic policy, on Friday. They may give clues on policy path. This Asian data center hub is grappling with the massive costs of AI: energy and water Johor, a state at the southern tip of Malaysia, has quietly become one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing data center hubs amid the heightened compute demands of AI. Though that has created new economic opportunities and jobs, there are signs the industry is pushing the limits of the state's energy capacity and natural resources, with officials slowing approvals for new projects.
Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Dalay: Putin Blames Ukraine & EU for the Lack of Deal
Live on Bloomberg TV CC-Transcript 00:00Before we get to this meeting today, I want to start with what we saw on Friday and what, if anything, you think was accomplished or achieved by these two leaders. I think first what the true leader wanted from these meetings. Putin clearly wanted the meeting, wanted a deal, at least a deal and a cease fire to be in all of the meetings. And obviously the Putin got to a meeting that he wanted that's effective. And then the western isolation of Russia breaking the Western consensus on Russia. And probably he hopes that it's not only going to be Ukraine in talks between himself and Trump, but rather Ukraine turns into one subject among many other subjects. That's all the subject includes from that and from the nature, the overall nature of the relation between us and Russia, how to improve it and how to prevent the further sanctions coming down on Russia. So therefore, for Putin, the meetings and the meetings should not be only about Ukraine. For Trump, obviously he wanted a deal that to be announced. Right now what we see at this word in terms of the initial outcomes that Putin has gotten, what it wanted, which was the meetings and the Trump in terms of what he has gotten is still unclear. But what is so important, what is so significant at this stage is the normalization of the meetings and the record like treatment with the Putin by the by the most important by the most important country in the world, which is the united of the most powerful country in the world in the Western camps. And I think that meeting probably has paved the way for paved the way for other meetings coming down, coming down on the coming down the road. And the finally, in all the important things that Russia always wanted to talk about, the European security, not only Ukraine, but the overall nature of the European security order with us, not with with Europeans. And thus far it seems that the Russia is succeeding. Well. Well, so then where does that leave the discussions around a ceasefire or potentially peace? Because Trump also wants to see Zelensky and Putin meeting in the near term. European leaders are against that. Is that not a part of the discussion right now? Is that what you're saying? Well, the Trump wanted a ceasefire and they found that Putin didn't want a ceasefire. Is that the Putin talk about a comprehensive peace agreement which is unlikely to be achieved anytime soon? And I think one thing that probably one strategy that put it is pursuing the failure of getting a comprehensive deal, whatever that means at this stage, because that will that will involve some really tough questions regarding the territorial adjustment, the regarding what the U.S. means by the security guarantees that deal with the security guarantees that has been floated around, whether that is effectively a NATO like commitment without the NATO membership for Ukraine or what it is like, just like an idea that is being floated without much of much did. But nevertheless, right now, the if the failure the failure of this talk about a comprehensive deal, I think then Putin wants to blame Ukraine and Europeans for the intransigence and then basically tell the standard from that it was it was dumb that they didn't want a comprehensive deal rather than Russia once did, and therefore that it is time for the U.S. and Russia to even to reset the ties despite the fact that there may not be over or Ukraine. Gleb, do you see the European leaders stepping in and potentially changing the calculus of where these talks are at right now? Well, the trouble with European leaders or the European strategy towards Russia, towards Ukraine is even though Europe has been talking about the plan A, plan B, a plan C, but all of them coming to the same idea, actually, how to keep the U.S. in the game in one way or another. I still don't see any European plans despite all this talk about or the formation of the coalition of the willing, the formation, or the idea that the U.S. may not be in the game for long despite all this holds. I still do not see any European plan that is premised on the idea that Europe and the U.S. might be completely out of the picture. So the idea that I see is still gaining currency at the European capital. If the US even withdraw in presence, can we can we have like the U.S. backstops for the Europeans? So that's the first thing. The second thing that I see beyond offering the financial commitment, beyond offering further military equipment to Ukraine and further financial financial help to Ukraine, also buy more from the Americans. What for markets? I still don't see a workable European plan if the U.S. exit, if the U.S. is not in endgame. So therefore, this is like a drastic moment where, as in true for the European security, but probably one of the most significant days that we are passing through since the end of the Cold War and the tragedy for Europe. The Europe is not ready for the game. Europe is not ready for the challenge. If the U.S. is not in the game.
