Despite Trump’s tough tone now, things were much worse in Washington when the National Guard was rolled out in 1968

(CNN) — Fear in the streets. Buildings burning. Law enforcement struggling to tamp down violence and control chaos.

It’s the kind of scene that has brought a federal military response to US cities in the past. And it’s a vision of Washington, DC, that President Donald Trump is invoking to bring the military to the city’s streets today.

“It’s becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness,” Trump said in a news conference last week, announcing his plans to federalize law enforcement in the capital – including the deployment of 800 National Guard troops.

While the government has announced some arrests this week – many of them immigration offenses – the scene in Washington has been a far cry from the description Trump gave when announcing the federal law enforcement takeover, sa