When Donald Trump said he was sending the National Guard to clean up the streets of Washington DC, he meant it in a law enforcement way. But crime in the US capital is at a 30 to 40-year low, depending on the category, so the highly trained and very expensive soldiers are picking up litter.
National Guard members activated for DC federal takeover seen picking-up trash https://t.co/jFGM8awBIr pic.twitter.com/nfBuEuyJgZ
— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) August 26, 2025
Twitter wasn’t convinced it was a wise use of resources. Here are some top comments.
1.
Highly trained National Guard troops sent to Washington DC at a cost of $1 million dollars per day supposedly to fight crime, now tasked with picking up trash. pic.twitter.com/MX0R3189SD
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 27, 2025
2.
Hey guys, could you swing by the White House at some point? There’s a huge pile of orange trash that needs to be disposed of. Thanks! https://t.co/4UkyVikJ0Z
— James Christian Parsons (@Dred_Tory) August 26, 2025
3.
What a waste. I feel bad for these guys. They have lives, families, and jobs. And they’re being used by a cruel, mad, fascist. https://t.co/dfF7QpZ9Wu
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 26, 2025
4.
“Join the National Guard! Earn money for college! Maybe shoot some civilians! Pick up trash!”
— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) August 27, 2025
5.
Maybe they can also plant those new lawns that Trump “the grass master” said he wants all over DC? LMAO…
— Phil Robertson (@Reaproy) August 27, 2025
6.
https://t.co/lF3cNsdxvj pic.twitter.com/H22RqX0t9q
— Rowley (@rowleyamato) August 26, 2025
7.
They’ve got our troops doing community service for the cameras. And I can promise you… they’re not happy about it. https://t.co/PnPUwVHcmz
— WarMonitor (@TheWarMonitor) August 26, 2025
8.
I feel embarrassed for these guys. Trump took them from their homes and sent them to DC to pick up trash #NationalGuard pic.twitter.com/xxnBxj1wri
— Joe Flood (@joeflood) August 26, 2025
9.
Should do wonders for recruitment
— S. Hopkins (@92huskies) August 26, 2025
10.
Most useful they’ve been the whole time https://t.co/qOARKVQhhP
— Humans Person (@HumansPersonOh) August 26, 2025
11.
How much are they getting paid to get humiliated like this? I bet they have the skills to build affordable homes.
— Aponte-DC (@IrisAponte78067) August 26, 2025
12.
The MAGA morons are very proud of our National Guard troops picking up trash in Washington DC.
The average cost of a sanitation worker is $140 a day and the average cost of a National Guard soldier is $500 a day. Brilliant.
pic.twitter.com/hCr2KvoxPK— Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) August 26, 2025
13.
Trump really sees the National Guard as his personal employees that he can boss around. If this is what he will do publicly to our National Guard just imagine how he treated his employees throughout the years without a camera following his every action
— Dark Chayse (@DarkChayse) August 26, 2025
14.
Deploying armed National Guard as glorified janitors in D.C. exposes Trump’s wasteful, authoritarian federalization of cities, prioritizing power grabs over actual public safety. #StopFederalOverreach #ResistDCTakeover
— Dr. Cole #Resister (@1drcole) August 26, 2025
15.
Hey @NationalGuard can you send over a team to clean my house? https://t.co/9fP1dHOLlw
— Tweet Caroline (@CNj65) August 26, 2025
The big question is ‘do they or don’t they want to be seen?’
Obsessed with them wearing the reflective vests over the camouflage https://t.co/si4xZFNKPm
— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) August 27, 2025
We’ll just leave this here.
Fact check: trump isn’t stopping crime in DC, he’s distracting from the Epstein case.
And deploying so many National Guard hasn’t increased dining out in restaurants; it’s actually had the opposite effect.
Dining is down by 31%.
Everything trump touches dies. pic.twitter.com/2ME7DhPCr9— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 26, 2025
READ MORE
Pete Hegseth was asked where all the homeless people in Washington DC will go and his 5-word answer is the very essence of Trump’s second administration
Source Allison Papson Image Screengrab
