In addition to announcing the National Guard’s statewide deployment, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating “additional specific actions” to “further crack down on crime” in Washington.
According to the directive, the secretary of defense must “ensure state National Guards are similarly trained and ready to assist in quelling civil disturbances nationwide” and establish a “specialized DC National Guard unit” that is equipped to maintain public safety and order in the nation’s capital when called upon.
According to the order, the secretary of defense will also make sure that a National Guard quick reaction force is available for “rapid nationwide deployment” when necessary.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the order also directs the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to “hire additional prosecutors” to concentrate on violent and property crimes, and it instructs the National Park Service to “hire additional United States Park Police officers” to support public safety in Washington.
The directive was described by CNN as “the clearest sign yet he intends to expand the US military’s role in domestic law enforcement activities across the country.” However, the paper pointed out that governors are mostly in charge of these forces’ operations, and the executive order doesn’t say to whom the units outside of Washington would report if a state governor didn’t want to use them.
The directive was signed just days after National Guard personnel on Washington street patrol were instructed to start carrying their duty firearms by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
After three days of action in Washington, Trump warned reporters at the White House on Friday that the federal government may target Chicago as the next city in its crackdown on crime. He went on to say that he would like the National Guard to assist in combating crime in Chicago and New York.
In a confrontation with Maryland Governor Wes Moore on Sunday, who denounced the National Guard’s presence in Washington and requested Trump to come to his state to talk about public safety, Trump threatened to extend military deployment to Baltimore.
When Trump said at a White House news conference on August 11 that he was sending the National Guard to help restore public safety and law and order in Washington, DC, he also mentioned troublesome cities headed by Democrats, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland.
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