Photo: Secretary Pete Hegseth X
Amid a months-long deployment to Washington, D.C., at the direction of President Donald Trump, National Guardsmen in the national capital were spotted making the rounds on the city streets donning red Santa hats.
“Fully authorized uniform modification!” said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on social media. “Merry Christmas to our warriors — America’[s] best.”
The merry moment came as the nation celebrates Christmas this week, and it serves as a reminder that guardsmen from across the country are still working to secure Washington, D.C.
National Guard Bureau Chief and General Steven Nordhaus noted on X, “Here in the National Capital Region and across our great Nation, National Guardsmen remain on duty today and throughout the year, protecting our fellow citizens and defending our Homeland.”
President Donald Trump initially deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., in August, after invoking emergency powers that placed the D.C. Metro Police Department under the authority of the federal government.
The deployment of roughly 2,000 National Guard troops to the city has been part of the president’s overall crackdown on metropolitan crime in the district.
Despite legal pushback, the Trump administration has continued to win at court over the president’s deployment of guardsmen to D.C.
According to PBS, a federal appeals court last week ruled that the president may continue to keep guardsmen at the nation’s capital until at least 2026, with judges citing the president’s “unique power” to mobilize troops in the explicitly federal district.
The National Guard occupation of D.C. has been largely unproblematic. However, in November, 24-year-old Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was shot by a vigilante shooter. Wolfe is still recovering.
A second servicemember, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, was also shot. Tragically, Beckstrom did not survive.
The alleged shooter in the incident was identified by the Department of Justice as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. He was charged on Tuesday with multiple counts related to the shooting of Wolfe and the killing of Beckstrom.