#NationalGuard documents show public ‘fear’ and #troops’ ‘#shame’ over #WashingtonDC presence

By Alex Horton, September 10, 2025

"The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about President Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has assessed that its mission is perceived as 'leveraging fear,' driving a 'wedge between citizens and the military,' and promoting a sense of 'shame' among some troops and veterans, according to internal documents reviewed by the Washington Post.

[...]

"Friday’s assessment highlights 'Mentions of Fatigue, confusion, and #demoralization - ‘just gardening,’ unclear mission, wedge between citizens and the military.'

"The National Guard was ordered to this mission and does not have a responsibility to make it palatable to the public, said Jason Dempsey, a former Army officer who studies civil military affairs for the Center for a New American Security. But, he said, military leaders should think about how deployments with political undertones could have implications for recruiting and sustaining the force.

"The themes raised in these assessments, Dempsey said, also should give pause to American citizens. National Guard troops are overseen by governors, who almost always provide their approval when those forces are mobilized for federal service overseas or within the United States. But the mission in Washington, and an earlier deployment to Los Angeles, both occurred against the consent of civil authorities in those jurisdictions.

" 'When elected representatives say, ‘We do not want them,’ but the federal government sends them, and then you see these kinds of numbers,' he said, 'it does raise existential questions for the health of the National Guard, for how America views its National Guard, and how America uses the military writ large.'

"Such concerns were also spelled out in a separate cache of internal documents that outlined another Trump administration initiative: the creation of a #QuickReactionForce of National Guard troops to respond to #CivilUnrest anywhere in the United States. In that case, first reported by the Post as Trump’s D.C. deployment got underway in mid-August, military officials voiced concern about 'potential political sensitivities' and 'legal considerations related to their role as a nonpartisan force.'

"Trump has since signed an executive order directing the formation of the quick reaction force."

Read more:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/nation/national-guard-documents-show-public-fear-troops-shame-over-dc-presence/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/UE4uh

#SilencingDissent #Clampdown #TrumpIsAFascist #Authoritarian #authoritarianism #NationalGuard

'Full force if necessary,' Trump says he's sending troops to Portland, #Oregon to protect ICE

#Trump said on social media he's sending troops to #PortlandOR to protect immigration facilities

Mayor #KeithWilson: “We did not ask for them to come. If the federal government isn’t here to lend us a hand, take a hike…it’s just a big show. The president has sent agents here to create chaos and riots in Portland. [Trump] wants to induce a violent exchange. Let’s not grant him that wish…Say no to an #authoritarian president.”

by Sarah D. Wire, September 27, 2025

" 'At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security [Secretary] #KristiNoem, I am directing Secretary of War, #PeteHegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our #ICE Facilities under siege from attack by #Antifa, and other #DomesticTerrorists,' Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social Saturday. 'I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' "

Read more:
https://www.rawstory.com/portland-2674047457/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/qfDTr

#USPol #authoritarianism #Clampdown #SilencingDissent #TrumpIsAFascist #CharacteristicsOfFascism