About 2,000 National Guard troops from at least six Republican-led states were deployed to Washington to confront what the president described as an out-of-control crime wave, despite violent crime in the city having fallen significantly since a pandemic peak. The administration framed the deployment as restoring safety and emphasized the action publicly, including a presidential livestream and surprise visits by senior officials. Opponents, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, called the deployment a dangerous political stunt and an inappropriate use of service members. The move could influence upcoming state and midterm elections and intensify debate over presidential authority.
The Republican president is proudly promoting the work of roughly 2,000 National Guard troops in the city, loaned by allied governors from at least six Republican-led states. They're in place to confront what Trump describes as an out-of-control crime wave in the Democratic-run city, though violent crime in Washington, like dozens of cities led by Democrats, has been down significantly since a pandemic high.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran, cast Trump's move as a dangerous political stunt designed to distract the American people from his inability to address persistent inflation, rising energy prices and major health insurance cuts, among other major policy challenges. "I'm deeply offended, as someone who's actually worn the uniform, that he would use the lives of these men and women and the activation of these men and women as political pawns," Moore told The Associated Press.
Collection
[
|
...
]