America’s brave National Guard troops should be training, or they should be living their lives at home, prepared for whatever serious deployment lies ahead – not spreading mulch at Trump’s whim.
President Trump arms National Guard in DC and threatens other cities
National Guard troops now carry weapons in DC as Trump signals possible deployments to other Democratic-led cities.
Congratulations to President Donald Trump and his whip-smart administration on turning America’s brave National Guard troops into the most expensive gardening crew in human history.
About 2,000 soldiers from across the country are in Washington, DC, to help battle a crime wave that Trump fabricated. Violent crime in the District of Columbia was already down considerably before the president did anything, and now some of the National Guard troops – patriots who have jobs and homes and families they were pulled away from for this deployment – are spreading mulch and picking up trash in our nation’s capital.
One Guard member told The Washington Post: “I think it’s nice, as a DC resident. But there are different things we could be doing.”
National Guard troops spreading mulch doesn’t scream ‘warrior ethos’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly blabbed about how he’s turning America’s soldiers into “war fighters” and focusing on “lethality” and a “warrior ethos.”
I’m not sure how that squares with using National Guard troops to help with what the Trump administration calls the “beautification” of Washington. You don’t need a warrior ethos to pull weeds and scrub graffiti off walls.
Perhaps when Hegseth spoke of “lethality,” he was warning America’s crabgrass to watch out. War fighters are coming for your lawn, and they mean business.
Trump’s using soldiers to pick up trash and be part of a cynical spectacle
The spectacle of soldiers wearing yellow and orange reflective vests over camo fatigues – yes, this actually happened – is a testament to the absurdity of Trump’s dictatorial stumbling. Simply put, he’s using National Guard troops to do whatever he wants, from getting Americans used to seeing a military presence in the streets to any light gardening the president might desire. He has no concern for the men and women in uniform or for the vital role they play in responding to actual crises.
They should either be training or living their lives at home, prepared for whatever serious deployment lies ahead. They shouldn’t be spreading mulch at Trump’s whim.
National Guard deployment is expensive. This is a massive waste.
The National Priorities Project, a nonprofit federal budget research group, estimates the cost of the DC deployment at more than $1 million per day. Trump’s authoritarian reality show does not come cheap.
What’s worse is the way these soldiers – all dutifully following orders – are being used as high-priced labor to compensate for National Park Service cuts the Trump administration made earlier in the year.
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The Washington Post, citing a Park Service official, reported: “The service used to have 200 people assigned to maintain thousands of acres of trees and gardens in D.C., and now there are 20.
“It’s everybody ‒ the masons, the maintenance workers, the groundskeepers, the plumbers,” the official said. “Every shop is short.”
So you send in the troops? That’s farcical.
Soldiers shouldn’t be pawns in Trump’s weird authoritarian games
The job of the National Guard is not to make up for an administration’s stupidity.
We shouldn’t have National Guard troops who will one day regale their grandchildren with tales of the Great Mulching Brigade on the National Mall or the Georgetown Battle Against Five Improperly Discarded McDonald’s Containers.
This is a wildly irresponsible use of taxpayer money and an insult to the good women and men serving in the military, all duty-bound to follow the leadership of a man who wouldn’t know honor if it bit him on his prodigious rump.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
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