National Guard Troops Are in D.C. We Went to See What They’re up to.

The Washington Post

11:57 JST, August 24, 2025

Commuters and tourists leaving D.C.’s Union Station this week stepped out to an unusual scene: two armored trucks and a dozen or so National Guard troops clad in camouflage, milling about in the summer heat.

“Welcome to D.C.,” said one Guard member, smiling as people walked past. He was met with a range of responses.

“Welcome, gentlemen, welcome.”

“Appreciate you guys.”

“Go home, no one wants you here!”

Tourists stopped to take selfies. A protester held a brightly painted sign that read “What Trump order won’t you obey?” At one point in the afternoon, the menacing Imperial March – Darth Vader’s theme song – blared from a loudspeaker placed behind the Guard members.

Labi Oshunremi, 24, described the scene to his mom on the phone as he waited to cross the street to catch a train home to Philadelphia. He looked up at the armored vehicles, their wheel wells as tall as the Guard members and weaponless turrets mounted on their roofs.

“It looks like Call of Duty,” he said, comparing the scene to the military video game.

The spectacle offered a glimpse of the polarized sentiments in Washington as federal troops poured into the city after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital. On Aug. 11, he placed the D.C. police department under direct federal control and ordered 800 D.C. National Guard members – who report to the president because the District does not have a governor – to patrol the streets. Days later, Republican governors from six states sent an additional 1,200 Guard members to assist.

Guard members have not carried weapons in the District – but that might change soon after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday authorized them to do so.

But while a majority of Washingtonians oppose Trump’s actions, their feelings about the troops on the ground are more nuanced. The Guard has declined to provide deployment locations, citing security concerns, but residents and The Washington Post have seen troops in areas including the National Mall, Nationals Park and Metro stations. While some people see them as an extra layer of security, others question their utility.

Fifty-five percent of city residents said they’ve noticed an increased presence of federal law enforcement in D.C. since Trump’s Aug. 11 order, a Washington Post-Schar School poll found. Eighteen percent of that group said this has made them feel safer, while 61 percent said they feel “less safe,” and 20 percent said the increased presence hasn’t made a difference.

Some Guard members have been seen taking selfies with residents and picking up litter.

“It feels very unnecessary. This is not a war zone,” said Dorean Collins, 31, who works at Lee’s Flower Shop in Union Station. “I don’t think I’ve fully processed the fact that there’s an armored vehicle outside.”

Collins, who grew up in D.C. and lives in Northwest Washington, said she had to temporarily close the store Wednesday when her wholesaler could not deliver flowers because of the presence of the Guard and protesters. Earlier in the day, Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials visited Union Station to greet a small number of National Guard troops.

Collins said she thought the city government and Union Station’s security guards were capable of protecting the area without federal intervention. The Guard’s presence did make her feel safer, but she’s concerned that the White House’s “extreme” approach to reducing crime will drive away business and stifle the city.

“I think there are people who are walking around in fear,” Collins said.

The hodgepodge of federal agencies deployed in the city has made it difficult for most Washingtonians to understand who they encounter on the streets. In addition to the National Guard troops – who wear camouflage uniforms – agents from at least 10 federal agencies, including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration, have been seen operating in D.C. in recent weeks.

The Pentagon has said the National Guard’s mission is focused on being a visible deterrent. Personnel will support law enforcement and can temporarily detain a suspect until police arrive, officials said. But under federal Title 32 orders, which is the authority Trump used to activate them, they could conduct law enforcement if asked.

This week, the Defense Department celebrated the efforts of two D.C. National Guard members who alerted local authorities to a man brandishing a knife in a Metro station on Monday. “The D.C. National Guard prevents another metro attack!” the department wrote in a social media post.

“We showed our presence and then made sure that citizens around that area were safe,” one of the patrolling Guard members, Army Capt. Giho Yang, said in a post on the Defense Department’s website, which provided no details of whether an arrest was made or whether officers determined a crime was committed. D.C. police did not immediately respond to a request for details about the incident.

Outside Nationals Park on Wednesday afternoon, five or so D.C. National Guard members drew the attention of baseball fans who had arrived for that evening’s game against the New York Mets. The Guard members stood idly for 20 or so minutes before one of them picked up litter from a sidewalk. Two others joined the cleaning effort, straightening up a row of bikes and scooters that had toppled over from a rack.

John and Dorothy Evans, an Idaho couple visiting D.C. to kick off a multi-leg “baseball tour” that will eventually take them to Toronto, were among the handful of people to approach the Guard members. After a brief conversation with the troops, they posed for a picture and went on their way.

Dorothy Evans, 75, said the soldiers were “very friendly, very nice men.” John Evans, 79, said he was relieved to see them.

“I’ve been reading articles about how there were problems with gangs attacking people in the Navy Yard area,” he said. But with the National Guard present, he worried less about something going amiss during their overnight stay. “I’m glad they’re going to be here.”

Army Col. Larry Doane, the commander of the joint task force overseeing National Guard troops in the District, said the National Guard’s unarmed patrols are meant to provide “another set of eyes” at busy locations.

“It has an overall, I think, deterrent effect on criminal activity,” Doane said. “That people know that there’s a lot of people out there watching what’s going on.”

On Thursday morning, there were only a few tourists braving a cold drizzle on the National Mall – and about 50 National Guard members from Mississippi and West Virginia to keep watch.

The troops walked in groups of two or three, crossing the large plots of grass on the Mall. It appeared that there was little to occupy them.

Several ducked into the National Gallery of Art for a bathroom break. Another group bought milkshakes and ice cream from a food truck.