Members of the National Guard who were deployed to Washington DC to combat crime were seen Tuesday picking up trash in the nation's capital.
The busload of troops were caught on camera by Fox 5 DC in their camouflage fatigues and orange safety vests picking up trash and hauling garbage bags in Lafayette Park, just outside the White House.
Officials say the effort is part of President Donald Trump's 'beautification and restoration mission,' noting that 110 National Guard members were tasked with picking up trash at Lafayette Square, the National Mall and the Tidal Basin.
'We are committed to keeping DC safe and beautiful,' the unidentified official told the outlet.
The unusual site came just one day after the Joint Task Force-DC Office wrote in an email update that its members 'will begin a beautification and restoration mission with [the] National Park Service.'
The initiative, they said, was 'part of an overarching plan that includes an estimated 40 or more tasks being conducted across the District.'
On Saturday, the DC National Guard also previewed their trash-collecting efforts in a video posted to social media, showing troops collecting garbage along a DC waterfront.
'Growing up as a DC native from Southeast DC, it feels good to be out here, cleaning the streets, making DC beautiful again,' one DC National Guard member said in the video.
'I feel like DC really needed this, and I feel like it's only going to get better and better from here.'
Members of the National Guard who were deployed to Washington DC to combat crime were seen Tuesday picking up trash in the nation's capital
An official confirmed that 110 National Guard members were tasked with picking up trash at Lafayette Square, the National Mall and the Tidal Basin
But the sight of military-trained soldiers hauling trash created some ire online.
'Why are we spending $1 million a day for them to pick up trash?' Jessie Rabinowitz, with the National Homeless Law Center, wrote on X.
'For one week of DC guard deployment, we could solve homelessness for 150 [people] for a year,' she claimed.
Former political candidate Amy McGrath also noted that 'over a million dollars A DAY of your taxpayer money [is being] spent on this, folks,' and DC Commissioner Joe Bishop-Henchman claimed it was part of President Trump's master plan.
'Step 1: Ban DC from spending local funds forcing the city to cut $300 million and scale back trash collection,' he wrote on X.
'Step 2: Activate the National Guard at $1 million a day to collect trash. Step 3: ???'
Podcaster Brian Allen also noted that Trump activated the National Guard 'for a "federal takeover" of DC and they're out her picking up trash.'
'He thinks he's sending in the cavalry. The Pentagon gave him a parks crew,' Allen joked.
Trump announced on August 11 he was federalizing Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department to combat rampant crime in the city.
The president has the authority to deploy the National Guard under Washington's Home Rule Act, which gives the city a mayor and a city council but not full statehood.
The trash-collecting effort is part of President Donald Trump 's 'beautification and restoration mission,' an unidentified official said
The Joint Task Force-DC Office wrote in an email update on Monday that its members 'will begin a beautification and restoration mission with [the] National Park Service as part of an overarching plan that includes an estimated 40 or more tasks being conducted across the District'
On Saturday, the DC National Guard also previewed their trash-collecting efforts in a video posted to social media, showing troops collecting garbage along a DC waterfront
Following the announcement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the troops deployed to DC to carry weapons and carry out law enforcement duties.
The deployment has now resulted in more than 550 arrests over the course of two weeks, with Trump declaring victory in his efforts to tamp out crime
But the deployment of National Guard troops has also angered locals, with a recent Washington Post poll finding that 80 percent of D.C. residents oppose federal control of their police force.
Some have even filed lawsuits, claiming the armed deployment risks turning the capital into a militarized zone.
Washington DC's attorney general also called the move a 'gross violation' of the city's autonomy.
Yet Trump has stood firm in his decision to send the National Guard into the city, suggesting on Monday that Americans 'like a dictator.'
President Donald Trump announced on August 11 he was federalizing Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department to combat rampant crime in the city
Addressing the controversy from the Oval Office, the president claimed his detractors are saying 'we don't need him. Freedom, freedom. He's a dictator. He's a dictator.'
'A lot of people are saying: "Maybe we like a dictator,"' Trump continued, before quickly denying that he is a dictator.
'I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and a smart person,'
the president said after announcing his plans to expand the National Guard deployment to cities around the country.
It involves activating as many as 1,700 members to 19 states to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Department of Homeland Security.
Those troops would be mobilized through at least mid-November in the crucial border state of Texas which will have the most significant presence, Fox News reported.
Other states where activations are reportedly being planned are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Troops will be used to support ICE with case management, transportation, logistical support, and clerical functions.
They will also be used to deter people from committing crimes, a Pentagon official told Fox.
He has since suggested he will deploy more troops to 19 states to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Department of Homeland Security
The president has also suggested he would deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, though he noted he had not yet reached out to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about the idea as he called the Democrat names in the Oval Office.
'Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we'll straighten that one out probably next,'
the president said.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker then hit back at Trump during a press briefing on Monday, branding him a 'wannabe dictator' who wants to 'occupy American cities for political gain.'
Trump dismissed Pritzker as 'sick' and claimed Democrats were playing politics while Americans suffer from crime.