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.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Donald Trump’s law enforcement crackdown will be armed, the Pentagon said Friday. The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed.

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.

President Trump singled out Chicago again on Friday, saying the city likely will be his next target for a crackdown on crime, after he deployed nearly 2,000 National Guard members in Washington D.C.