(WASHINGTON) — National Guard troops have begun 24-hour operations around Washington, D.C., as of Thursday morning, according to a Department of Defense official.
It’s part of President Donald Trump’s plan to address crime in Washington by taking over the city’s police department and deploying the National Guard troops.
Thursday’s National Guard presence in Washington included one small unit deployed to both Union Station and the National Mall early in the morning, according to a spokesperson for joint task force behind the operation. The idea is that residents and tourists would awake Thursday morning to the sight of military presence, according to a person familiar with the effort.
Earlier this week, some National Guard troops patrolled along the National Mall — a relatively safe and quiet stretch of Washington known for museums, monuments and hot dog vendors serving tourists.
Guard members on patrol are not carrying weapons as of now, and they will not have the weapons in their vehicles, according to two defense officials.
A White House official told ABC News that overnight Wednesday into Thursday, the multi-agency federal task force made 45 arrests — 29 of which were immigration-related arrests. Law enforcement teams arrested people on a variety of charges including first and second degree assault, controlled substance possession and distribution, and carrying a concealed weapon, the White House official said.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that overnight Wednesday into Thursday, the FBI and law enforcement partners in Washington contributed to the 45 arrests with 16 arrests “tied to the violent crime surge” and seized three firearms.
“Your FBI will make DC Safe Again,” Patel wrote.
Law enforcement agents conducted a traffic safety compliance checkpoint on busy 14th Street in Northwest Washington Wednesday night, which led to one arrest. A group of protesters spoke out against the checkpoint, shouting at the law enforcement officers, according to video from Washington’s ABC station, WJLA.
Army officials said their mission was to aid law enforcement with logistics support, transportation and administration duties, as well as being visible around the Mall.
“That’s part of our assignment — to go to the national monuments and be present,” Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesperson, told ABC News on Tuesday.
Trump announced Monday that he planned to mobilize 800 National Guard troops to address what he considered “out of control” crime in the city, as well as taking over control of the Metropolitan Police Department. Trump has made claims about rampant violent crime in Washington, which D.C. police statistics show is actually decreasing. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city has spent the last two years driving down violent crime — “driving it down to a 30 year low, in fact,” she told MSNBC on Sunday.
“It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023, this is 2025 and we’ve done that by working with the community, working with the police, working with our prosecutors, and, in fact, working with the federal government,” Bowser told MSNBC.
Defense officials said the joint task force, led by Army Col. Larry Doane, will run the operation.
The task force includes 800 activated National Guard members, defense officials said. The troops will work in shifts of 100 to 200 troops at a time, and some of them will be assigned to administrative or logistical roles in support of local law enforcement.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson on Thursday said the 800 National Guard troops will remain “until law and order has been restored.”
“They will remain until law and order has been restored in the District as determined by the president, standing as the gatekeepers of our great nation’s capital,” she said.
The task force overseeing the activated Guard troops will operate similarly to how the D.C. Guard has handled inaugurations or responding to crises, as it did during the Jan. 6 riots. The National Park Service will play a considerable role because of its oversight of the National Mall, officials said.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
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