The US National Guard in Washington began carrying weapons on Sunday. Donald Trump wants to deploy it in Chicago and Baltimore. Why is the President of the United States bringing the military into the streets of American cities?
More than 2.200 soldiers have been deployed on the streets of Washington to fight crime at the request of the President of the United States Donald Trump, the American the army. According to Wednesday, Trump's plan is to "fix homelessness, robberies and restore order in America's capital" where "gangs rule," even though police statistics in the capital show a drop in violent crime in 2023 and 2024.
"Beginning Sunday evening, August 24, 2025, Soldiers of Joint Task Force Washington began carrying their service weapons," the US military said in a statement. They will openly carry M17 pistols and M4 rifles.
Weapons are authorized to be used only "as a last resort and only in response to an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury," writes the Washington Post. They do not have the right to make arrests, but they can detain suspects until the police arrive.
Trump is planning similar operations for Chicago and Baltimore, which are ruled by Democrats, and behind the story of the fight against violence on the streets is his constant need to maintain a state of emergency in America and instill a sense of fear in people.
Harsh criticism from Democrats
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said that in his city last year, murders dropped by more than 30 percent and street shootings by 40 percent. And in Baltimore, crime is on the decline. Democrats strongly criticize Trump's intention to have the military patrolling American cities, which is a characteristic of dictatorial regimes.
The President of the United States refers to a federal law known as Section 12406 which allows the President of the United States to deploy the National Guard in the event of an invasion, insurrection, or to enable law enforcement.
Trump-unfriendly media interprets his "playing around" with the National Guard as an attempt to present cities ruled by Democrats as places of chaos, and himself as a fearless fighter for the establishment of law and order.
In the case of protests, such as those in Los Angeles, he could denigrate the protesters as extremists and mobilize his base to resist the "radical leftists," as he likes to call all those who oppose his way of governing. Images of the National Guard, military vehicles and weapons in American cities could become normality and a symbol of Trump's domestic policy.
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