The National Guard members sent by U.S. President Donald Trump to the capital, Washington, will be armed “soon,” according to Pentagon information. More than 1,900 National Guard members are currently stationed in the U.S. capital. “By order of the Secretary of Defense, National Guard members will soon be deployed with their service weapons to help in the task of reducing the crime rate in our nation’s capital,” a ministry representative, who wished to remain anonymous, said Friday.

National Guardsmen are patrolling around the White House and on the National Mall between Congress and the Lincoln Memorial, which is frequented by tourists, as well as at train and metro stations.

Trump justifies the deployment of troops with an alleged “security emergency” in Washington. He has also placed the local police under the control of his administration. Harming Democrats Under the Guise of Law and Order? Trump had said on August 11 that he would save Washington from “crime, bloodshed, chaos, misery, and worse.”

On Friday, Trump told reporters at the White House: “We are going to make our cities very, very safe.” At the same time, he reaffirmed his plans for two other Democrat-governed cities: “I think Chicago will be next, and then we will help New York.”