Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to be armed while patrolling the streets, officials with the Pentagon said Friday. The 2,000 troops are part of an initiative by President Donald Trump to help support local law enforcement in our nation’s capital after declaring a crime emergency.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense, JTF-DC members supporting the mission to lower the crime rate in our nation’s capital will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training,” an unidentified U.S. defense official told Fox News.
Hegseth posted to X Friday, calling the move “common sense.”
According to The Associated Press, this is a change from last week, when officials said the troops would not be armed. Now, in the coming days, they will be able to carry weapons. It’s unclear if a specific event led to the change.
Trump says DC is safer, plans more guard deployments
Trump touted the city as safer on Friday morning while speaking to reporters from the Oval Office.
“By the way, in Washington, D.C., we’ve had the lowest crime numbers they’ve had in years,” Trump said. “Zero, it sounds like a horrible thing to say, but I might as well say it: zero murders in the last week since we’ve done this. That’s the first time in memory that that’s happened, if you can believe it. How pathetic that is to have to say it.”
Straight Arrow News spoke with an officer inside the Metropolitan Police Department who confirmed that there has not been a murder in the district in the last week.
The president said the National Guard will be deployed to other locations to help deter crime.
“I really am honored that the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police,” Trump said. “And we haven’t had to bring in the regular military, which we’re willing to do if we have to. And after we do this, we’ll go to another location and make it safe, also. We’re going to make our country very safe. We’re going to make our cities very, very safe.”
Mayor Bowser pushes back as crime rates decline
District Mayor Muriel Bowser, D, said Wednesday that crime in D.C. had been going down “precipitously” over the last two years because of local initiatives, and she doesn’t agree with Trump’s decision to mobilize the National Guard in her city.
“I don’t think the National Guard should be used for law enforcement,” Mayor Bowser said. “And I think calling men and women from their homes and their jobs and their families. They have to be used, you know, on mission-specific items that benefit the nation. I don’t think you have an armed militia in the nation’s capital.”
According to the latest crime stats released by Metro PD on Friday:
- In 2024, violent crime in D.C. was down by 35% and property crime was down by 11%.
- In 2023, there were 274 homicides in the city, and that number was down to 187 homicides in 2024.
- So far in 2025, MPD says violent crime is down 27% and property crime is down 8%.
The National Guard troops are not authorized to make arrests in the capital.
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Author: Harry Fogle
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