Overview

• Joint Task Force–DC said more than 1,900 National Guard members from states including West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Louisiana, and Tennessee have been mobilized for the Washington mission.
• CNN, citing a U.S. defense official, reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Guard members on D.C. patrols to carry their service weapons, a shift from earlier Pentagon guidance.
• Trump declared a "crime emergency" in Washington on Aug. 11 and deployed the National Guard to support law enforcement operations in the city.
• In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump warned of a possible "complete and total Federal takeover" of Washington and accused Mayor Muriel Bowser of providing inaccurate crime figures.
• Bowser rejected the administration’s characterization, saying crime is down from 2023 and 2019 and that the city is at a 30-year low in violent crime.