A group of soldiers with the National Guard patrol Union Station on August 29, 2025 in Washington, D.C.Samuel Corum/Sipa USA/AP

Thanks to President Donald Trump, the residents of Washington, DC, are now safe from the horrors of fallen leaves and errant litter. Otherwise, as the US commander in chief threatens to send National Guard troops to Chicago, the usefulness of Trump’s DC deployment has been doubtful.

“They just see us as little toy soldiers to put on the street to show some muscle.”

On August 11, Trump declared DC’s violent crime rate higher than some of “the worst places on Earth”—likening the capital to Baghdad, Iraq, and Bogotá, Colombia. In fact, DC’s violent crime rate is at a 30-year low. No matter: In a show of fealty to Trump, six Republican states sent troops to DC.

So far, their work has not gone exactly as planned. Last week, the soldiers deployed to fight a “crime emergency” instead found themselves completing “beautification” duties on Capitol Hill and patrolling Krispy Kremes. Users on the r/NationalGuard subreddit were quick to give their colleagues a new nickname: National Guardeners.  

The joke shows an undercurrent of dissent within the Guard after Trump unleashed members on major American cities. Alex, a National Guard recruiter from one of the states that sent troops to DC who requested anonymity to........

© Mother Jones