National Guard Deploys 800 Personnel For DC Mission, Says Pentagon
Trump ordered the deployment -- which follows a similar move during protests in Los Angeles in June -- as part of what he billed as a crackdown on crime in Washington, where violent offenses are in fact down.
"As of today, all 800 Army and Air National Guardsmen are mobilized... as part of Joint Task Force DC, and they are now here in our capital," Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told journalists.
They "will assist the DC Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement partners with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities and officers" and traffic control posts, Wilson said.
The troops "will remain until law and order has been restored in the District, as determined by the president," she added.
The US Army later said the National Guard's initial mission "is to provide a visible presence in key public areas, serving as a visible crime deterrent."
"They will not arrest, search, or direct law enforcement," but they "have the authority to temporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm," the Army said in a statement.
The troops will be equipped with protective gear, it added, saying that weapons would be available if needed but would remain in the armory.
Trump announced the National Guard deployment -- along with a federal takeover of the city's police department -- on Monday, vowing "to take our capital back."
In a further tightening of control, US Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order late Thursday granting the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration the executive powers of Washington police chief, codifying the federal takeover of the capital's law enforcement.
The city's Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser reacted to Bondi's order in a post on X, in which she said: "We have followed the law... there is no statute that conveys the District's personnel authority to a federal official."
Bowser's post also contained images of a letter from the district's elected attorney general Brian Schwalb to Washington's police chief Pamela Smith.
"It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it," Schwalb wrote.
The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.
However, data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.
The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was spurred by immigration enforcement raids.
It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.
Most National Guard forces answer to state governors and have to be "federalized" to be brought under presidential control, but in Washington these troops already report only to the US president.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
US suspends medical visas for Gazans after far-right posts – DW – 08/17/2025
The US says it is halting medical-humanitarian visas for people from Gaza after a far-right figure claimed they were a threat to the country. The move will prevent wounded Palestinians coming to the US for treatment. The US government said on Saturday it was halting all visitor visas for people from from Gaza while it conducts "a full and thorough" review. "All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days," the State Department, headed by Marco Rubio, wrote on X. The move comes after far-right influencer Laura Loomer posted claims on social media that some Palestinians issued with medical-humanitarian visas to the US were "pro-HAMAS ... affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and funded by Qatar," without providing evidence. Her posts were written after the US-based charity HEAL Palestine last week said it had brought 11 critically wounded Gazan children, together with their caregivers and siblings, to the US for medical treatment. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Loomer holds no official position but has shown a significant power to influence the Trump administration and the Republican party, among other things bringing about the sacking of several senior US security officials after claiming they were disloyal to the president. She is known for spreading far-right conspiracy theories, such as claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US were an inside job and that the Parkland high school shooting and the Santa Fe High School shooting were staged. "Truly unacceptable," Loomer wrote of the issued visas in one X post. "Someone needs to be fired at @StateDept when @marcorubio figures out who approved the visas." "Qatar transported these GAZANS into the US via @qatarairways," she said, adding that Qatar was "literally flooding our country with jihadis." She also shared videos of badly wounded Palestinian children arriving in the US this month with their families, claiming that they were uttering "jihadi chants," whereas they seemed rather to be shouting out with joy that they had arrived safely. Several of the posts targeted HEAL Palestine, which said it had carried out "the largest single medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza to the US" with its transport. Republican Congressman Randy Fine praised Loomer after the visa change was announced. "Massive credit needs to be given to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura," Fine wrote on X. However, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, another US-based charity, called on the Trump administration to "reverse this dangerous and inhumane decision." "This policy will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment — a mission that has defined our work for more than 30 years," it said in a statement. "Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza," it said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned the move to suspend visas, calling it another sign of the "intentional cruelty" of the Trump administration. Gaza's medical infrastructure has been devastated amid the Israeli offensive triggered by a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken. According to Gaza health officials, more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive.
Local Germany
10 hours ago
- Local Germany
Europeans try to stay on the board after Ukraine summit
"It's good news that there was no deal, for both Ukraine and the Europeans," said Alberto Alemanno, a European law professor at the HEC university in Paris. He noted a serious risk that "a new European security map" would be drawn up while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Europe's leaders watched from the sidelines. Europe found itself shut out of the summit in Alaska, and tried to weigh in ahead of the meeting with a flurry of calls and urgent meetings between leaders ahead of time. On Saturday, the French presidency said the leaders of Britain, France and Germany would host a video call Sunday for their so-called "coalition of the willing" to discuss steps towards peace in Ukraine. The meeting would come a day before Zelensky travels to Washington for talks with Trump -- five months after the Ukrainian leader was ambushed with a televised scolding during his previous Oval Office visit. European leaders also proposed a three-way summit between Zelensky, Putin and Trump. But it remains unlikely that Russia, hit by 18 rounds of European sanctions since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, is ready for any thaw in its glacial relations with the bloc. 'Keep Europeans out' Putin made his stance clear on Friday, warning Ukraine and European countries to "not create any obstacles" and not "make attempts to disrupt this emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues". Advertisement "Clearly, what Vladimir Putin's intention is, is to keep Europeans out and Americans in," said James Nixey, a specialist in Russian foreign policy. After a debriefing with Trump and with Zelensky on Saturday, European leaders held their own video call on their next steps. READ ALSO: Germany proposes Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit be held in Europe Moscow "cannot have a veto" on Ukraine joining the European Union or NATO, they said in a statement signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Macron later called for increased pressure on Russia until "a solid and durable peace" had been achieved. But since the beginning of the war, European leaders "have never engaged with Putin", said Alemanno. "And all of a sudden they have to do so, without knowing exactly what are the terms of engagement," he said. "So they're a bit stuck." Advertisement The risk is all the greater since Trump has clearly indicated in recent weeks that he is ready to walk away from the war, despite his campaign promise to end it within "24 hours". Despite pledges to ramp up military spending and maintain its support for Kyiv, European leaders are sorely lacking in resources to help defend against a Russia intent on subjugating Ukraine. "Each morning when I wake up, my first thought is that we have to re-arm ourselves even faster," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper on Saturday.
Local Germany
10 hours ago
- Local Germany
Germany proposes Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit be held in Europe
"I think that such a three-way meeting will take place," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview with TV networks NTV and RTL, according to an advance transcript AFP obtained. "The date and place are still to be worked out. We have proposed that a place could be found in Europe," he said. Trump, in the wake of his Friday summit with Putin in Alaska to speak about Ukraine, said he and European leaders wanted to see another summit take place, this time with a seat at the table for Zelensky. After his talk with Putin failed to make headway on a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump shifted his stance to say was now keen on securing a full peace agreement. One challenge for Putin to step foot in Europe is that there is an International Criminal Court arrest warrant out for him over the alleged mass abduction of Ukrainian children during the war. The United States is not a party to the ICC, and Hungary -- an EU country ruled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is friendly with both Trump and Putin -- is in the process of withdrawing from the ICC's founding treaty. Merz suggested that a European venue for the possible summit "should maybe be a place where discussions might take place on a permanent basis", but he did not specify any country or city. Advertisement "Those are detailed issues. They will only be clarified in coming days, or even coming weeks," he said.
