Trump signs executive order for specialized public order National Guard unit
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President Trump speaks to the press in the Oval Office of the White House on August 25. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump signed an executive order Monday that charges Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with training a specialized D.C. National Guard unit dedicated to "ensuring public safety" in the District.
The big picture: Under his unprecedented federal crackdown on the nation's capital, the president is molding the District and its institutions to match his vision of a made-over D.C.
- His long-held grievances with the city boiled over this month, when he declared a crime emergency.
- He's since overseen the mobilization of some 2,000 National Guard personnel — some of whom are now carrying firearms.
Driving the news: Trump's order, titled "Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia," calls for Hegseth to "immediately create and begin training, manning, hiring, and equipping" the unit, which will be subject to activation under Title 32.
- It instructs officials to "deputize the members of this unit to enforce Federal law."
- Hegseth was further directed to ensure that each state's Guard personnel are trained and available to assist law enforcement in "quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order."
- It also calls for the "the availability of a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment."
Yes, but: The Posse Comitatus Act largely bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except in cases expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress.
- However, under Title 32, the Guard is still being controlled by state officials but being paid by the federal government. That exempts them from the Posse Comitatus Act, the Brennan Center for Justice notes.
What they're saying: Top Trump aide Stephen Miller said members of the public are "overflowing with gratitude" over the president's actions in the District.
- But D.C. residents overwhelmingly opposed Trump's takeover of District police and deployment of federal law enforcement and the National Guard, according to recent polling from the Washington Post-Schar School.
- Trump has floated Chicago as the next city to face a federal crackdown, followed by New York City.
Zoom out: Trump also suggested from the Oval Office Monday that the Department of Defense be renamed the Department of War.
- "We want defense but we want offense, too," he said. It's not the first time Trump has floated that switch.
- The Department of War was merged with the Navy and newly-independent Air Force in 1947 as the National Military Establishment.
- The Department of Defense was established in 1949, replacing the Cabinet-level status of the Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries.
Go deeper: "Hippies" and "communists": Trump team dismisses blowback to D.C. takeover
