Trump deploys hundreds of US National Guard troops in Washington
The mobilisation of the troops follows an order by US President Donald Trump for a crackdown on crime in the US capital.
According to defence officials, National Guard members on patrol are not carrying weapons as of now, and they will not have any guns in their vehicles.
Critics fear the deployment is meant as a scare tactic aimed against the homeless and other vulnerable groups, as well as discouraging dissent, after a similar action Trump took during protests in Los Angeles in June, prompting widespread backlash.
Homeless encampments were cleared across town near the National Mall since their deployment.
David Beatty, who was living in a tent not far from the Washington landmark, says the actions of the administration are 'anti-Christian'.
'I remember the passage of, 'as you have done unto the least of these, you have been unto me.' And the idea that he's targeting us and persecuting us feels wrong to me,' Beatty said.
'This is disgraceful,' Nicole, another Washington resident who said she was the daughter of two US Marines, said.
"I come here every day, and I never feel unsafe. And putting women of colour? Making these people have these as their work orders? It's disgusting. And for what," she asked outside of Union Station as National Guard members patrolled the area.
On Monday, Trump announced the deployment of the US National Guard and the federal takeover of the city's police force.
Republican leaders have accused the Democrats running the US capital of allowing it to be overtaken by crime. But according to Washington police records, violent crime significantly decreased between 2023 and 2024.
Washington resident Marc Bernstein said that he had concerns over the crime rate in the US capital. However, he questioned the way the administration was handling it.
'This sort of display is not designed to stop gun violence. It's not designed to stop the drug trade. It's designed to intimidate people,' Bernstein said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
37 minutes ago
- France 24
Trump slams US museums for focus on 'how bad slavery was'
President Donald Trump has waged a pressure campaign for US museums to celebrate American exceptionalism "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," Trump wrote. He was referring to the Smithsonian Institution, an independent organization that operates 17 museums, galleries and a zoo located across the country, which receives public funding, and which he has previously accused of espousing a "corrosive ideology." The translatlantic slave trade from Africa to the Americas spanned three centuries, and has been referred to as the United States' "original sin." The country's South fought to maintain slavery in the 1861-1865 Civil War, but lost. Since then African Americans have fought for their civil rights, including in the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, which forced a new national reckoning on the darker parts of US history. "The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of 'WOKE'," Trump wrote in the Truth Social post, using his shorthand for leftist social justice movements. For months now, Trump has disparaged cultural institutions, which have worked to bring more diversity to exhibits and programming in recent years, highlighting women, people of color and queer culture. Last week, the White House posted a letter to its website saying the administration plans to target eight major museums for "comprehensive internal review" in an effort to "celebrate American exceptionalism" and "remove divisive or partisan narratives." The targeted institutions include the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Museum of the American Indian, the letter said. "Now museums are being targeted because they speak too openly about the horrors of slavery," wrote prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump on X in response to Trump's post. "If telling the truth about slavery makes a museum 'too woke,' then the problem isn't the history, it's the people who want to erase it," he continued. In 2017, during his first term, Trump visited the National Museum of African American History -- which opened the year before and which depicts the slave trade, among other historic subjects. "This museum is a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes," Trump said after his tour, according to US media reports from the time. "It's amazing to see." © 2025 AFP
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
What is Kick, the platform on which French streamer Jean Pormanove died while going live?
Raphaël Grave, known online as Jean Pormanove or JP, died on Monday, August 18, in Contes, North of Nice, while taking part in a livestream on Kick. For several years, he had suffered harassment, violence and humiliation live on the platform. While the prosecutor's office in Nice has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death, the tragedy has highlighted this little-known platform and its particularly lenient moderation policies. What is Kick? Kick is a live video streaming platform, with a look and operation very similar to Twitch, Amazon's popular site for video game enthusiasts. Launched in 2022, it is an Australian company, though little is known about its investors beyond its two co-founders, Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven. As on Twitch, viewers can pay a few euros to "subscribe" to channels and unlock special perks. In August, Kick reported a monthly audience of 817,000 people − less than a third of Twitch's numbers for the same period (2.1 million) − according to the website StreamCharts. How is this streaming platform different from others? Kick stands out from other streaming services mainly due to its highly attractive payment system for content creators. The platform keeps only 5% of the money paid by users to subscribe to channels, compared to the 30% to 50% cut taken by Twitch, for example. The second "advantage" of the platform is its much more permissive moderation policy. Kick allows certain gambling activities that are banned on Twitch, as well as sexually suggestive scenes or content involving humiliation or violence – such as those involving Pormanove – to be broadcast without automatic sanctions. Does that mean anything goes on Kick? Not everything is allowed, but the site has actively capitalized on its "edgier" reputation to attract influencers banned from other platforms or who specialize in provocation. Notably, it welcomed the American streaming star Amouranth, who was temporarily suspended from Twitch for videos deemed too sexualized, as well as pro-Trump influencer Adin Ross. Ross − who is known for sexist, homophobic and racist provocations − joined Kick after being banned from Twitch in 2023 (he has since been reinstated). While Kick is primarily English-speaking, there are also several French-speaking influencers who have been banned from other streaming services, such as YouTuber Marvel Fitness, who was convicted of psychological harassment in 2021. With such a lineup of content creators, Kick has regularly sparked controversy. In September 2023, for example, an escort was filmed and detained against her will in the apartment of American streamer Ice Poseidon (real name Paul Denino), while Craven, one of the platform's executives, jokingly commented on the situation on the livestream. One year later, two more American influencers, Jack Doherty and Sam Pepper, were banned from Kick. Doherty was removed for crashing his car live on air, while Pepper was banned for tricking a homeless woman in a staged event (he now appears to be allowed back on the platform). Ross, meanwhile, has hosted figures such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes and men's rights influencer Andrew Tate on his streams, while his content is also regularly promoted by Kick itself. What are Kick's links to online casinos? Kick is directly connected to a major online gambling and betting platform, Stake, founded by the same individuals; the site frequently displays advertisements for Stake. Stake is illegal in France, and access to the site is blocked in France and several other European countries. In the United Kingdom, where the platform had obtained a license to operate legally, the company announced in February it was leaving the country following a scandal: Stake had launched an advertising campaign using the image of a porn star to promote its online betting service, which triggered an investigation by the local regulator. The company is also the subject of several lawsuits in the United States, where it claims its operations are legal but where several states argue that it is violating gambling laws.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
US agrees to talks with Brazilian WTO delegates on tariffs
Brazil approached the global trade body in early August after President Donald Trump raised duties on more than a third of US-bound exports from the Latin American powerhouse, including key items like coffee, beef and sugar. Trump hit Brazil with some of his highest tariff rates as punishment for what he calls a "witch hunt" against his ally, former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to attempt a coup. "The United States accepts the request of Brazil to enter into consultations," read a letter dated August 15 from the Washington WTO delegation and published on the organization's website. "We stand ready to confer with officials from your mission on a mutually convenient date for consultations," it continued. The US letter cautioned that some of the issues raised by Brazil "are issues of national security not susceptible to review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement." The WTO consultation process involves seeking a negotiated solution before moving into arbitration. Trump's tariff order also charged that the Brazilian government's recent policies and actions threatened the US economy, national security, and foreign policy. Unlike most countries targeted by Washington's reciprocal tariffs, the United States runs a trade surplus with Brazil, not a deficit.
