OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:45 AM – Friday, August 20, 2025
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order authorizing the National Guard troops currently patrolling Washington, D.C., to carry weapons if necessary, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“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,” a U.S. defense official reported to FOX News.
The new directive is expected to be fulfilled in the coming days, according to the official, as the president urges troops to remain tough on crime in the Capitol following his declaration last week that he would take over policing to solve the “out of control” crime in D.C.
On Wednesday, however, Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back against what she called an “armed militia in the Nation’s Capital.”
“Crime has gone down in our city and it has gone down precipitously over the last two years because of a lot of hard work, changes to our public safety ecosystem, including changes to the law,” Bowser said.
Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has also requested additional troops to be deployed in D.C. from nearby states. Six Republican governors have offered their services so far, and troops will be transferred in from Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Some have criticized these state leaders for exporting guardsmen while having cities with higher crime rates than D.C., however, except for South Carolina.
Trump visited the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility in Washington to thank the D.C. police and National Guard, who were seen around several populated areas in the Capitol this week, including the Washington Monument, at times unarmed and posing for photos.
During his visit, the president’s words to the officers suggested they might stay for six months or longer to “make D.C. great again.”
“You do the job on safety, and I’ll get this place fixed up physically, and we’re going to be so proud of it at the end of six months,” he said. “But let’s say at the end of the year, this place will be maxed out in terms of beauty. You’ll have all new surfaces. You’ll have all new medians, everything’s going to look beautiful,” he added.
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