GOP-led states send hundreds of additional National Guard troops to DC
The three GOP governors have pledged to send hundreds more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to help Trump federate.
Straight Arrow News
WASHINGTON – National Guard troops were able to begin carrying weapons on the streets of Washington, DC. This was over the weekend when Defense Secretary Pete Hegses was deployed to President Donald Trump’s police and directed the capital to arm military bullets.
For two weeks on the streets of the national capital, National Guard forces have not carried weapons, but that is expected to change to Saturday, August 23rd. Soldiers are carrying standard service weapons, pistols and M4 rifles, officials said.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense, the National Guard forces will soon be their mission with weapons issued, consistent with their mission and training, “We support our mission to lower crime rates in our country’s capital,” the Pentagon said in a statement shared with USA Today on August 22.
Officials previously told USA Today that public security guards could begin carrying weapons according to their mission.
As of August 21, the number of National Guard soldiers deployed in Washington had increased to about 2,000 as Republican governors of six states sent hundreds more troops to take part in the Trump takeover, according to the joint task force responsible for the deployment.
Trump announced the deployment of his first 800-person troops on August 11, saying that despite documented declines in the city’s crime rates in 2025, he needed to curb what he called an uncontrolled crime within the city.
