Photos: What Is the National Guard Doing in D.C.?

Since August 11, President Donald Trump’s “Safe and Beautiful” plan has pulled more than 2,000 National Guard troops into Washington, D.C.—a visible show of force to deter crime and signal federal control. A U.S. district court judge ruled on November 20 that the deployment is unlawful and ordered that it end, but stayed that order for 21 days. Trump’s lawyers have argued his National Guard powers are “unreviewable.”

For locals, the guard members’ effect on crime remains debatable, but the accompanying checkpoints and stops have been uncontroversially disruptive. The oddest part of the spectacle is captured in the photos that follow. Uniformed and armed men and women from across the country can be seen all over the city wielding leaf blowers, hoses, and brooms as they do municipal chores—tasks for which they are surely overqualified.

The deployment is costing taxpayers between $1 million and $1.5 million per day. But over Thanksgiving weekend, the cost rose sharply: A close-range ambush near Farragut Square killed 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and left 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in critical condition. The Trump administration immediately pledged to send in 500 more guard members. This act will further scramble the already confused logic about the necessity and utility of National Guard presence in American cities.