Members of the Mississippi National Guard eat ice cream and boba tea on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Al Drago
National Guard soldiers were deployed to Washington, D.C., earlier this month, but since arriving, they haven't done much. Two reporters at The Atlantic found that even the soldiers have no idea what their mission is.
Photos captured them standing around in extreme heat and humidity. Last week, they were seen grabbing ice cream from a food truck and guarding the Krispy Kreme. In the past few days, it seems to have evolved into Guard soldiers picking up trash and spreading mulch around the landscaping in the city.
Writing on Friday, Ashley Parker and Nancy A. Youssef described some of the answers that they got when asking the soldiers why they're there and what their specific mission is.
“We’re the president’s patrol, ma’am,” said a small group of South Carolina Guard soldiers standing along the waterfront.
Another group characterized their mission as, "Just walkin’ around."
A third group walking along the National Mall told reporters that they were from West Virginia. When asked what they were doing, they confessed it was nothing more than “Smiling and waving."
Even in areas where the Guard has a big presence, it isn't necessarily helping reduce crime. The report described a stabbing that happened at a major intersection along the "H" Street corridor at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday. Guard soldiers had spent the day walking back and forth through the area, and a group of three were having lunch on the patio nearby when it happened. The suspect escaped.
"So safe,” a neighborhood resident texted the reporters sarcastically.
The report noted that this was the first week that the Guard soldiers were standing around while heavily armed. Earlier this month, they were unarmed. The city was in strong opposition to the takeover before the soldiers were armed, but now, citizens are beginning additional measures.
"The occupation has chilled life in the city, especially in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations: quiet playgrounds, empty restaurants, fewer street vendors, fewer food-delivery scooters," the report said. "Nannies have stayed home, and house cleaners have canceled. Some mixed-status families are keeping their children home from school or skipping work until the federal focus moves on, or they’re only leaving home when absolutely necessary."
The report also noted that as students came back to school this week, "local parent-teacher groups organized impromptu 'walking buses'—volunteers willing to help walk to and from school kids whose parents don’t feel safe doing so."
The report explained that while the National Guard has become the face of the occupation, the reality is that the federal agents are the ones who are tackling delivery drivers to the ground and chasing people with tail lights out.
"For those who feel afraid, it’s in many respects the least of their worries. The Guardsmen themselves have generally behaved more like a notional guard than a national one," the report explained.
While the mayor acknowledged that there has been a decrease in crime in the city, there has also been a significant decline in overall activity. Local reports revealed that even during the famed summer "Restaurant Week," there was a 31% decrease in restaurant reservations. Those empty playgrounds and fewer street vendors aren't sustainable in the long term. Once the federal agents are gone and the crowds return, crime is likely to follow.