'It embarrasses me to be involved': Inside the National Guard D.C. deployment

'Shocked' National Guard troops say Trump exploited them: 'Bad taste in my mouth'

National Guard members who served in President Donald Trump’s long-running deployment in Washington, D.C., are speaking out about the mission — with one saying it now “embarrasses” him to have taken part.The guard members who spent months deployed in the nation’s capital told NPR in a report published Monday that they have serious concerns about the mission, which began in August 2025 and has since become Trump’s largest and longest domestic mil…

The National Guard never wanted to be Trump's tool of oppression

"It's going to completely rebrand everything that was noble about the National Guard into being mundane at best and threatening at worst." — Anonymous National Guardsperson After a year of patrolling Washington, D.C., Guard members are describing what it feels like to be turned from the people Americans welcome after hurricanes and floods into an armed political presence no one can trust. — Read the rest The post The National Guard never wanted…

In candid interviews, National Guard members speak out about D.C. deployment

As President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., enters its second year, three guard members who served many months on the mission share their reactions with NPR.

'It embarrasses me to be involved': Inside the National Guard D.C. deployment

As President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. enters its second year, three guard members who served many months on the mission share their reactions with NPR.