(Washington) The military of the National Guard deployed by Donald Trump in the American capital Washington will “soon” carry weapons, an official of the Pentagon announced on Friday.
Simultaneously, the American president announced from the oval office that the big democratic cities of Chicago and New York will be the “next” on hand by police, officially to combat crime.
“On the orders of the Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth), members of the National Guard, in support of the mission to reduce the crime rate in the capital of our country will soon be on a mission with their service weapons,” said an official of the Defense Department, under the cover of anonymity.
He said the command of the National Guard in Washington “retained authority over the police in coordination with the municipal police and the federal police” other agencies dispatched to the capital of the United States.
On August 11, Donald Trump, elected on a program to combat immigration and crime, had explained to place the maintenance of order in Washington under the authority of his administration and deploy the National Guard.
Photo Kevin Lamarque, Reuters archives
Members of the National Guard are on the guard outside the Washington Union station on August 19, 2025.
He said that the Federal Capital of the United States, which enjoys a unique status, was “invaded by violent gangs” and that he wanted to “clean up”.
Democrat mayor Muriel Bowser had to let it go but refuted an outbreak of violence ensuring on the contrary that the rate of crimes and crimes has been “at its lowest level for 30 years”.
1900 soldiers in Washington
There are currently more than 1900 soldiers of the National Guard – some in front of their armored vehicles in front of the city station or along the immense national Mall esplanade where the main institutions and monuments of the country stand.
In addition to the first 800 soldiers, republican states have these days, at the request of Donald Trump, sent troops to Washington, including Virginia-Western, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.
From the oval office, the American president assured that his government would “make our cities very, very safe”, suggesting that other national guard staff were going to be dispatched to mega -cities led by democratic elected officials.
Photo Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press
Donald Trump answered journalists’ questions in the oval office.
“Chicago is the mess (…) so it will probably be the next one,” he said, adding that federal police “will also help New York”, the largest city in the United States.
Before these major cities, Donald Trump had already deployed the National Guard as well as the Marines in Los Angeles, California led by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, during major demonstrations against the anti-immigration policy of the Republican government.
It was then the first deployment in this way against the will of a local governor since 1965.
