By Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky

(CNN) — US National Guard members deployed to Washington, DC, started carrying their sidearms on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Joint Task Force carrying out the mission told CNN.

This follows a directive by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week that authorized members of the National Guard, who were deployed as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-crime agenda in the nation’s capital, to begin carrying weapons.

The directive marked a notable shift in guidance from the Pentagon, which had previously indicated that National Guard members could be armed if the circumstances warranted.

A CNN reporter witnessed two guard members carrying long guns Sunday evening in The Wharf, a popular waterfront neighborhood. A release from Joint Task Force – DC on Sunday said Hegseth directed them to carry their assigned weapons; a US official told CNN on Monday that some troops will be carrying M4 rifles as that is their primary weapon, whereas military police, for example, primarily use a M17 handgun.

National Guard troops on the DC mission are also expected this week to begin assisting more with the “beautification” piece of the mission. A US official told CNN on Monday that the guard is working through what equipment will be needed and what sites specifically they’ll be assisting with, but tasks are expected to include things like painting over graffiti, picking up trash, and removing driftwood from the Tidal Basin by the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial.

The executive order signed in March titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” directed a “coordinated beautification plan” for facilities, monuments and parks in DC, the removal of graffiti, and to “ensure the cleanliness of public spaces.”

For weeks, Trump has ramped up efforts to crack down on crime in Washington, DC, which has also included a federal takeover of the city’s police department and increased federal law enforcement presence. The president has repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, but overall crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024.

To assist the DC National Guard, troops from the National Guards in West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Louisiana and Tennessee were called upon. Troops from the GOP-led states began arriving in the nation’s capital last week. As of Sunday morning, there were 2,274 National Guardsmen on the mission, more than 1,300 of them from supporting states.

In the week beginning August 12, the first full day the Trump administration had control of the Metropolitan Police Department, the city saw a moderate drop in reported crime — and a far larger surge in arrests of immigrants, a CNN analysis of government data found.

Trump signed an executive order Monday that the administration says will task Hegseth with establishing “specialized units” in the National Guard that will be “specifically trained and equipped to deal with public order issues.”

On Monday, Trump suggested he’d ask Congress to codify the action, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “I think Democrats will actually vote for this.”

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler and Donald Judd contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
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