By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Donald Trump’s law enforcement crackdown will be armed, the Pentagon said Friday.

The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed.

National Guard soldiers salute as the motorcade carrying President Donald Trump, passes by near the White House, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The step is a escalation in Trump’s intervention into policing in the nation’s capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members have been stationed in the city, with the arrival this week of hundreds of troops from several Republican-led st

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