Some National Guard units patrolling the nation’s capital on the route of President Donald Trump have began carrying firearms, an escalation of his navy deployment that makes good on a directive issued late final week by his protection secretary.
A Defense Department official who was not approved to talk publicly stated some units on sure missions could be armed — some with handguns and others with rifles. The spokesperson stated that each one units with firearms have been educated and are working beneath strict guidelines to be used of drive.
An Associated Press photographer on Sunday (August 24, 2025) noticed members of the South Carolina National Guard exterior Union Station with holstered handguns.
Members of the South Carolina National Guard patrol the platform of the Washington Metro Gallery Place station in Washington, on Sunday, August 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP
The improvement in Mr. Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the regulation enforcement authority of state and native governments comes as he’s contemplating increasing the deployments to different Democratic-led cities, together with Baltimore, Chicago and New York.
President Donald Trump on Sunday (August 24, 2025) threatened to increase his navy deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to a suggestion by Maryland’s governor to hitch him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he may as a substitute “send in the troops.’”
His newest pledge to ramp up the navy’s presence in ‘left-leaning’ cities got here as at the least some National Guard units in the nation’s capital started carrying weapons over the weekend, making good on a directive issuedon Friday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The most up-to-date developments in Mr. Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the regulation enforcement authority of state and native governments got here after he stated he was contemplating Chicago and New York for troop deployments just like what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital. Thousands of National Guard and federal regulation enforcement officers are now patrolling the district’s streets, drawing sporadic protests from native residents.
Mr. Trump made the menace to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal energy geared toward combatting crime and homelessness in Washington. Mr. Moore final week invited Mr. Trump to go to his state to debate public security and stroll the streets.
