The numbers are in: National Guard deployed to DC to fight crime has picked up 500 bags of trash along 3.2 miles [View all]

Source: The Independent

Tuesday 02 September 2025 22:37 BST


National Guard troops were deployed to Washington, D.C. to fight crime, but they have also participated in President Donald Trump’s beautification efforts, collecting 500 bags of trash along a 3.2-mile stretch.

When Trump announced last month he had placed D.C. police under direct federal control and deployed the National Guard to the city, he said he did it to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse.” Now, soldiers are rescuing D.C. from litter.

Troops wearing orange high-visibility vests over their camouflage uniforms were seen last week picking up trash in Lafayette Park just outside the White House. Soldiers were also seen cleaning up along the tidal basin near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

“Guardsmen have cleaned more than 3.2 miles of roadways, collected more than 500 bags of trash, and disposed of three truckloads of plant waste,” the National Guard said in a statement shared by CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane on Monday.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/national-guard-dc-trash-pick-up-trump-b2818830.html