Trump deploys armed National Guard units in Washington, considers expanding to other cities

Some National Guard units patrolling the United States capital at President Donald Trump’s direction have begun carrying firearms, marking an escalation in his deployment of military personnel to urban areas. The move follows an order issued last week by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

According to a Defence Department official, who was not authorised to speak on record, specific units engaged in certain missions are now armed with some with handguns and others with rifles. The official stressed that these troops have been trained and are operating under strict rules governing the use of force. An Associated Press photographer observed members of the South Carolina National Guard outside Union Station on Sunday carrying holstered pistols.

The development underscores Trump’s unusual bid to override the traditional policing powers of state and local governments. He has also indicated that he may extend such deployments to other Democrat-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York.

Trump’s latest comments followed a public exchange with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat, who has been critical of the president’s expanded use of federal power in Washington. Moore invited Trump to visit Baltimore to discuss public safety, but the president instead suggested he might send in troops.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump accused Moore of misrepresenting crime statistics, likening the situation to a previous dispute with California Governor Gavin Newsom, and declared he was prepared to “clean up the crime” in Baltimore if needed.

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Governor Moore countered, noting that Baltimore has seen marked reductions in crime. Official city data shows homicides fell by 24 per cent in 2023 compared with the previous year and have declined by more than 40 per cent since 2021.

Overall violent crime dropped by nearly 8 per cent between 2023 and 2024, while property crime was down by 20 per cent.

“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.” In a separate fundraising appeal, he accused Trump of spreading “a bunch of lies” about public safety in Maryland.

In Washington itself, where thousands of National Guard members and federal officers are already deployed, the weekend brought a mixture of protest gatherings and subdued city streets. In some districts, residents passed small groups of guardsmen stationed on pavements, while videos of arrests circulated on social media.

Trump has made clear that Chicago and New York are his next likely targets for similar deployments. The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has been preparing for an operation in Chicago involving National Guard troops and potentially active-duty personnel. Asked about this, the White House referred reporters back to Trump’s own statements.

“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump said on Friday. “And then we’ll help with New York.”

The president has frequently criticised large, Democrat-led cities with Black mayors and majority-minority populations, describing them as unsafe and mismanaged. Baltimore’s mayor, Brandon Scott, is Black, as are Governor Moore and the mayors of Washington D.C. and New York.