"On Monday, President Donald Trump put out an executive order directing, among other things, that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth make ready "a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment." The president also called for Hegseth to create a new "specialized unit within the District of Columbia National Guard, subject to activation under Title 32 of the United States Code, that is dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the Nation's capital.""
"There are already more than 2,000 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., at an estimated cost of more than a million dollars a day -including units deployed from, in ascending order of distance, West Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana. They are there, according to Trump's executive order, to "address the rampant violence and disorder that have undermined the proper and safe functioning of the Federal Government, and therefore, the Nation, and that have led to disgraceful conditions in our Nation's capital.""
"On Sunday, the National Guard forces assigned to the president's crisis response in the District began carrying M4 assault rifles or SIG Sauer M17 pistols around in public. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported, Guard members "scooped, spread and smoothed mounds of mulch around the city's treasured Tidal Basin cherry trees." Fox 5 DC reported that a "full busload of National Guard members were seen Tuesday morning picking up trash around Lafayette Park, just outside of the White House.""
The president issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Defense to prepare a standing National Guard quick reaction force and to create a specialized District of Columbia National Guard unit under Title 32 focused on public safety and order. More than 2,000 National Guard troops are currently deployed in Washington, D.C., at an estimated cost exceeding one million dollars per day, drawn from multiple nearby states. Guard members have been publicly armed with M4 assault rifles and SIG Sauer M17 pistols while also performing tasks such as spreading mulch around the Tidal Basin and picking up trash near Lafayette Park. The deployment operates against the wishes of the city government and residents and functions as an expensive, heavily armed, and largely symbolic occupation.
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