Trump now has the National Guard picking up garbage in DC

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Link to tweet

[Klarkashton]

1. And those goobers are acting all proud about it too.

Stupid bullshit. Go the fuck back where you came from you idiots.

[NJCher]

12. it's my understanding

that they have to go if they're told to, otherwise there are risks to their Guard record. There are other consequences, too, but I can't remember them. I heard this on my local public radio.

I'm sure that if they could go back home, they'd be happy to.

[Klarkashton]

17. I'd guess the same things applied to the SS back in the day.

And why the masks?

[Cirsium]

21. Masks?

They aren't wearing masks. You seem confused.

[Klarkashton]

23. Look closely

[ornotna]

30. You better look again

There were no masks on any of them.

[NJCher]

33. there aren't any masks in the video in the OP

I haven't seen them wearing masks elsewhere, but then, I rarely watch cable news.

I feel for these people. They are pawns in trump's power ploy. They would be happy to do their job if there was one, but there isn't. The fact that they are picking up garbage as much as says they're wasting their time. D.C. has people to do that.

Furthermore, put yourself in their place. How would you like to be taken away from your regular job, home, and family? There are costs related to that, and not just economic. Their spouse has to take care of the children alone, handle household tasks alone, and who even knows what happens at their regular job?

[Klarkashton]

34. Personally that would be it for me. I'd resign.

[Hekate]

18. You really don't seem to have a clue about National Guard, their lives, their training, their obligations

They are not free to go home. They are not free to leave their posts.

[Klarkashton]

22. My clue is that they have no fucking business there

No matter who the fuck sent them, is the masks now part of the fucking uniform?

[Gaugamela]

31. I watched the clip twice. None of them are wearing masks. Numerous news reports have

said that overwhelmingly the NG members don’t want these deployments. They signed up to help their communities during natural disasters, not to be Trump’s praetorian guard. Resignations are spiking.

The National Guard is not ICE.

[ybbor]

41. There are no masks!

It appears you didn’t watch the video. No masks anywhere.

[Cirsium]

20. Don't blame them

They aren't J6 rioters. They are National Guard.

[Norrrm]

2. What a waste of training and manpower.

[slightlv]

15. Not to mention our tax dollars! nt

[Hekate]

19. Yes

[Johonny]

3. These people had to drop their lives, jobs, and family

To deploy to DC for the cost of millions and millions to do a job the city already pays others to do.

Trump wastes resources like a guy that bankrupt a casino.

[Kali]

42. LOL

trash, dishes, laundry. some jobs never end.

[hildegaard28]

4. Oh yeah

There's so much crime in DC he has to make the National Guard pick up trash. A real emergency.

[C_U_L8R]

5. Their Generals could have said No.

Now they should resign in shame. There its no honor serving as Trump's errand boys, bootlickers, trashpickers or brownshirts.

[Hekate]

26. Can they? Any vets here want to chime in about the "shoulds" directed at Nat.Guard troops & generals?

[Wonder Why]

29. Resignation! Constitutional Oath! Standing up for what is right!

[Hekate]

43. So you're a vet?

[Wonder Why]

44. Yes! My grandfathers were both in the Navy (1900-1904) & (1904-1929). Father, uncles, & their cousins WW2 vets in Europe

My older brother was wounded in Vietnam. I served during those years but was never sent there (1968-1980). I was always a troublemaker then. Still am.

[NJCher]

35. trump asked the Guards from red states

that's why they didn't say no.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. This does not seem to be a good utilization of taxpayer resources.

Link to tweet

[calimary]

25. Somebody must have decided that they HAD TO be seen doing something.

Just a guess on my part. Can’t help but assume that, because nobody’s misbehaving and requiring some sort of police action.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Does the Guard have an anthem?

Like each of the main branches of the military?

If not, I suggest this:

?feature=shared]

[llmart]

10. OMG!

I remember that cartoon song from when my kids were little. They would laugh themselves silly singing it.

It certainly is appropriate for this thread.

[ret5hd]

36. i got em one:

[mcar]

8. Well, why aren't they fighting crime?

Could it be, possibly, that the DC cops are already doing that? Could it be that they're not going into the high crime areas in DC?

Why yes, yes it could be.

[pfitz59]

9. Littering is a crime!

Arrest the offenders!

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. And take 'em to the police officer station

where Officer Obie will take their shoelaces and belts because he don't want any hangins...

[Harker]

13. There's 325 lb. of trash in the Oval Office.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

14. If they want to help with the trash, they should head over to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[KPN]

16. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

That’s all.

[70sEraVet]

24. I wonder how they will decide which troops will carry guns, .....

and which troops will only be trusted to carry garbage bags?

No clue? Really?

[MrWowWow]

28. Lives are Definitely in the Balance There! LMFAO!!!

Last edited Wed Aug 27, 2025, 01:32 AM - Edit history (1)

[The Polack MSgt]

32. Well, as a 24-year vet, I can say that this is the policing we were trained to do

The Commanders and 1st Sergeants were probably looking for something - ANYTHING productive to keep their troops occupied.

Fuck Trump

[RazorbackExpat]

37. Ironically, this is called "policing the area" in the military

Maybe their commander said, "OK, men, you heard Trump, we're gonna be policing DC. So grab a trash bag and let's get started!"

[Aviation Pro]

38. I know that look and what's going through their heads

“I didn’t sign up to do fucking police call.”

[MichMan]

39. Probably wondering why people would throw trash where they live

[Blues Heron]

40. Probably tourists or ICE. They are major slobs

[Abolishinist]

45. To the extent that the trash is white,

I totally agree!

[JI7]

46. The biggest piece of garbage

is in the white house or did they temporarily move it to maralago ?

[thought crime]

47. Clearly an abuse of power

These are the whims of an idiot king.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

48. This is the so-called emergency that justifies the deployment of these troops

Link to tweet

[BlueSpot]

49. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.

Pick up that garbage.

Apologies, of course, to Alfred Lord Tennyson.

[Ms. Toad]

50. Better picking up garbage than treating people like garbage. n/t

[riversedge]

51. I am sure Trump has made littering into a Federal crime.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

52. Highly trained National Guard troops sent to Washington DC at a cost of $1 million dollars per day

Link to tweet

[Ping Tung]

53. D.C.is to be made a PoTrumpkin Village.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

54. National Guard troops deployed in D.C. add sanitation, landscaping duties

Service members say they’re glad to help the National Park Service. But some question if trash removal and groundskeeping are an appropriate use of the military.

National Guard troops deployed in D.C. add sanitation, landscaping duties

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

— Greg Hernandez (@ghnarrator.bsky.social) 2025-08-27T11:39:28.200Z

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/27/dc-national-guard-trash-removal-trump-takeover/

“I think it’s nice, as a D.C. resident,” said one Guard member. “But there are different things we could be doing.”

More than 2,200 troops, some from as far away as Mississippi and Louisiana, have been deployed in D.C. since Trump’s declaration of a “crime emergency” here. Ostensibly, they were mobilized to support federal law enforcement and local police, but in recent days those orders have expanded to encompass “beautification” tasks such as trash removal and groundskeeping around the National Mall and other federal property. Service members may work on removing graffiti, too.

Typically, custodial work like this falls to the National Park Service, which was already facing staffing shortfalls when the Trump administration this spring directed additional cuts as it gutted the federal workforce. 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, a Park Service official told The Post......

Joint Task Force-D.C., which has overseen the Guard’s activities in Washington since Trump declared the crime emergency Aug. 11, said that service members will be working on more than 40 “beautification projects” throughout the city that were identified with input from local and federal agencies. Though the Pentagon has authorized those participating in the deployment to carry weapons, for now troops on cleanup duty will not be armed, an official with the task force said. ......

Pulling Guard members — civilians often with full-time jobs who report for duty once a month and then for two weeks a year — for such missions comes with a trade-off. The time they would have spent focusing on training in their military specialty or participating in battle drills may be spent on groundskeeping or urban foot patrols instead.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

62. trump is stiffing and cheating our national guard personnel

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

55. D.C. National Guard members activated for the federal takeover seen tending city parks

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. MaddowBlog-Why National Guard troops are now picking up trash in D.C.

Why has the Trump administration assigned troops to garbage duty in the nation’s capital? The closer one looks at the answer, the worse it appears.

As the Trump administration has National Guard troops picking up trash in DC, consider
- why they’re picking up the slack for laid off Park Service employees
- how this contradicts Hegseth’s “warrior ethos”
- and what the reaction would be if a Dem did the same thing www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-27T18:05:24.557Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/national-guard-troops-are-now-picking-trash-dc-rcna227554

When Donald Trump militarized the nation’s capital, the president didn’t just tout discredited and pretextual concerns about crime. The Republican also committed to what he described as a new “beautification” initiative in Washington, D.C.

To that end, locals are suddenly seeing something unexpected and unusual: National Guard troops on trash duty. The local NBC affiliate reported:

Members of the National Guard deployed to D.C. will pick up trash and work on dozens of ‘beautification and restoration’ projects, the military task force overseeing all troops in the District said Monday. ... Officials said the effort is part of a broader ‘beautification’ operation aimed at community restoration and improvement and that members will complete more than 40 tasks at sites around the District.

The report added that task force officials “wouldn’t offer details about how often troops have been asked to clean up areas in D.C.”

National Guard is now tasked with picking up garbage in DC

— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) 2025-08-26T22:22:56.505Z

.....Instead, let’s consider a different line of questioning: Isn’t the Park Service usually responsible for this? The Washington Post reported on the answer:

Typically, custodial work like this falls to the National Park Service, which was already facing staffing shortfalls when the Trump administration this spring directed additional cuts as it gutted the federal workforce. 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, a Park Service official told The Post.

Ah. So, the National Park Service used to have all kinds of employees, including groundskeepers, but the Trump administration laid them off......

The Post’s report added, “Representatives for Hegseth did not address questions about the new beautification assignment, or whether it was in line with the secretary’s lethality push.”

Imagine that.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

57. What crimes are National Guard troops in DC preventing here???

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

58. Fixed it.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

59. National guardner?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. "My recruiter said 'see the world.'"

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

61. Fighting crime in DC one weed at a time

[LetMyPeopleVote]

63. The Battle of DC

The perfect gift for the holidays