WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard in several U.S. cities in recent months is a departure from its historic role.

The National Guard is a state-based military force whose troops wear uniforms and rank, operate military vehicles and weapons, and have often been called upon to serve alongside regular active-duty units in war. But when deployed domestically, the guard has traditionally been asked to provide humanitarian assistance, not to act as a partisan strike force at the whim of the president.

Trump has activated the guard several times this year in Democratic-led cities, in what he has called a crackdown on crime and as part of his escalating immigration enforcement tactics.

Here is an overview of what the National Guard typically does and how

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