President Donald Trump has deployed approximately 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, including at the National Mall, a magnet area for tourists especially in the summer.
The New York Times reported of the troops: “The few who were seen on the streets Tuesday were unarmed. Their weapons were stored nearby, including in their vehicles. Some of the troops posed for photos and chatted with tourists.”
Federal agents from Homeland Security, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service have also been sent to Washington and have been seen on the DC streets.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, former Fox News star Jeanine Pirro, reported from her office on Wednesday about Trump’s order to send troops into the city.
[Note: Trump claimed in an executive order that “crime is out of control in the District of Columbia” and that there is “rising violence in the capital,” although — as objectors point out — after a spike in 2023, violent crime in D.C. declined in 2024 and has declined again so far in 2025.]
As seen in the video below, Pirro said: “The President’s message to the criminals was ‘If you spit, we hit.’ Well, we didn’t do quite that. The other night when an individual went up to one of the federal law enforcement officers and started jumping up and down, screaming at him, berating him, yelling at him, and then he took a Subway sandwich about this big (she used her hands to measure about a foot long sandwich) and took it and threw it at the officer. He thought it was funny.”
Assault a law enforcement officer, and you’ll be prosecuted.
This guy thought it was funny—well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony. pic.twitter.com/O0NVAFDZrU
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) August 13, 2025
Pirro added, “Well he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony assault on a police officer.”
She leaned toward the camera and spoke a little louder, “And we’re gonna back the police to the hilt. So there, stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.” The U.S. Attorney then struck a pose pinched from her TV past, folding her arms across her chest and smiling at the camera.
Reactions to Pirro’s video are mixed. while MAGA supporters applaud Pirro for “doing a great job,” others more critical of the Trump administration are responding with comments including, “Why were all the people arrested for trespassing, assaulting, and attacking Capital Police on Jan 6th pardoned for their assaults on law enforcement?”