WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a trio of senior department officials with ties to the National Guard paid a visit to roughly 300 mobilized National Guardsmen at the D.C. Armory in Washington Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. The four leaders thanked the Soldiers and airmen for their efforts to increase safety throughout the city.

An estimated 1,900 troops are being deployed in D.C. with more than half are coming from GOP-led states responding to the Trump admin.

Protesters heckled Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as they walked through Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (August 20) to meet National Guard troops at the station.

Inside Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House aide Stephen Miller tried to stage a photo op with National Guard troops. However, protesters' chants of "Free D.