National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., will soon begin carrying weapons as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime, a U.S. defense official confirmed Friday.
“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,” the official said on condition of anonymity, referencing the Joint Task Force-DC.
The U.S. Army had earlier stated that “weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory” as troops began to arrive.
Currently, more than 1,900 National Guard members are stationed in Washington, drawn from the city itself as well as Republican-led states including West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
President Trump said Friday that Chicago and New York are also being considered for similar deployments.
“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” he told reporters at the White House. “I think Chicago will be our next and then we’ll help with New York.”
The president has also discussed the possibility of declaring a national emergency to extend the deployment of troops in Washington beyond the 30-day limit.
Republican leaders, including Trump, have argued that Washington, D.C., is overwhelmed by crime, homelessness, and financial mismanagement. However, police data from the District paint a different picture.
According to the Washington police, violent crime fell sharply between 2023 and 2024, following a post-pandemic surge. A Justice Department statement in January reported that “total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35 percent from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years.”
Despite this, Trump has accused D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser of “giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures” and warned of “bad things,” including the possibility of a federal takeover of the city, if she continues.
Alongside the National Guard, federal law enforcement agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have also increased their presence in Washington, sparking protests from local residents.
The move comes after Trump ordered National Guard and Marine units into Los Angeles to suppress unrest linked to immigration enforcement raids. That marked the first time since 1965 that a president deployed the Guard against the wishes of a state governor, who typically oversees those forces.
