MARCHING ORDERS

Trump’s Military Footprint in D.C. Is Growing—and So Is the Resistance

Some Washingtonians have learned to live with armed guards, but for the rest of us, accepting it is the real danger.

Opinion

You can learn a lot about a city by its street posters. They appear between polished campaign signs and government notices; an unofficial bulletin board where people say what they really think. And right now, Washington, D.C., appears to have a lot to say. The biggest message plastered across the city is one that perhaps resonates most with residents now living under the authority of Donald Trump and the camouflaged uniforms he has forced on the landscape. “National Guard: I WANT YOU TO GO HOME,” it says, alongside Uncle Sam’s famous conscription image. This week marks one year since Trump sent federal troops into Washington under the guise of a crime “crisis.” But what started as a deployment of 800 members of the National Guard has since increased to 4,300—nearly six times the original deployment. The guards are now scheduled to remain in D.C. until January 20, 2029—the end of Trump’s term—in an extended mission expected to cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion. One year on, the danger isn’t just a more militarized Washington—it’s what the White House plans to do next.

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