The National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., will now carry firearms, following a new order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth’s order comes after President Donald Trump’s August 11 decision to direct 800 Army and Air National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as part of the “Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” rankling D.C. locals who flooded the streets in protest, much to the White House’s ire.
Trump first sounded the alarm over an alleged “crime emergency” after the carjacking of 19-year-old former DOGE staffer Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, who was allegedly beaten bloody in D.C.’s Logan Circle by two 15-year-olds.
The D.C. troops “will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training,” an official at the Department of Defense wrote to the Daily Beast. Service-issued firearms are the standard firearms that the military issues to ground combat soldiers.
The unnamed official added that the interim commanding general of the D.C. National Guard “retains the authority to make any necessary force posture adjustments.”
D.C. may be seeing more firearms among civilians as well after a puzzling Wednesday order from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro declaring that rifle and shotgun carriers will not be charged with felonies.
During a Pentagon press conference earlier this month, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson stated that the National Guard’s actions would be similar to its deployment in Los Angeles earlier this summer.
However, according to the Associated Press, the D.C. National Guard has primarily been patrolling national landmarks and assisting local police with crowd control, not cracking down on hard crime. Yet, armed troops were quick to storm the apartment of Sean Charles Dunn, the man who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal marshal. The White House later posted a procedural-style video of the dramatic arrest on its X account.
📹 Nighttime Routine: Operation Make D.C. Safe Again Edition pic.twitter.com/ngZsbgBpcz
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 14, 2025
The AP reports that troops have been observed feeding squirrels, taking selfies, and having coffee chats, raising questions about what, exactly, state-issued firearms would be used for. It is also unclear how long the National Guard will stay in D.C.
On Thursday, Trump boasted about the Guard’s achievements in the capital and threw an impromptu pizza party for the troops. “We’ve had some incredible results that have come out, and it’s like a different place; it’s like a different city,” he said.
The Guard is also tasked with “area beautification,” and among Trump’s chief concerns is re-grassing the nation’s parks. During his Thursday media stunt, he mused about turning national parks into “Trump National Golf Clubs.”
The post Hegseth Escalates Trump’s D.C. Crackdown by Arming Troops appeared first on The Daily Beast.
