Republican Governors Send National Guard to D.C.

Plus: Eric Adams introduces anti-drug proposals, ICE recruitment gets crazier, and more...

Trump administration makes plea to Republican governors: National Guard personnel will be deployed from red states to Washington, D.C., under a deal between President Donald Trump and three Republican governors.

Some 800 National Guardsmen are already deployed in D.C. for Trump's law-and-order show of force. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster will send another 200 from his state; Gov. Patrick Morrisey will send 300–400 from West Virginia; and Gov. Mike DeWine will add 150 Ohioans to the mix. "Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters Thursday that [National Guardsmen] will not be making arrests, but they may 'temporarily limit the movement of an individual who has entered restricted or secured area without permission,'" reports Axios, which makes it sound like their role will be somewhat pointless and performative.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, called this whole thing a "manufactured emergency" (and pivoted to talking about January 6, naturally) and "an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator" on MSNBC. "Crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low and on a downward trajectory," he added to ABC, repeating a common talking point that's grounded in possibly-suspect stats (more here). Many Democrats, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, can't quite decide the stance they want to take: just citing the "30-year low" statistic, or conceding that there are specific problems in D.C.—hotspots of carjackings, for example—but that Trump's deployments aren't actually targeting them effectively so far.

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Scenes from New York: Late last week, Mayor Eric Adams—who is running for re-election against socialist Zohran Mamdani, disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and based beret-wearer Curtis Sliwa—announced that he would prioritize forcibly moving drug users off the streets and allowing hospital workers to force them into treatment (following court approval).

He announced this at a Manhattan Institute event, saying "the evidence is right there in front of us."

"People openly using illegal drugs on the streets and in our parks, passed out in doorways and sidewalks, encampments littering with syringes and vials and unsanitary conditions that are a threat to public health and public order," he added. "This cannot be allowed to continue."

"The mayor's proposal also called for a new drop-in center in a Bronx neighborhood where The New York Post has been documenting complaints about public drug abuse; a pilot program to reward people with substance abuse disorders who keep to their treatment plans, a practice known as 'contingency management'; and funding to provide cellphones to participants in the city's Relay program, which provides support to people who have been taken to emergency rooms for overdoses," reports The New York Times. "The goal is to facilitate follow-up calls."

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QUICK HITS

• Geographically, where has federal law enforcement been deployed in D.C.?

The @washingtonpost tracked where Trump's forces are patrolling in Washington. Spoiler alert: They're not where the crime is. pic.twitter.com/hH1QFdFFz5

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 17, 2025

There are also some reports that Anacostia, a crime-ridden neighborhood in the southeastern part of D.C., has had an increase in National Guard activity; it's a difficult thing to measure.

Anacostia is located in Southeast D.C., across the river from Capitol Hill in Ward 8. D.C. has seen an increase in National Guard and federal assets, and we asked the local manager at @DCitySmokehouse what his views on the increase in federal patrols.

"They are making their… pic.twitter.com/xUYjiCA5kL

— Wid Lyman (@Wid_Lyman) August 16, 2025

• No breakthroughs in the Trump-Putin Alaska talks, per Bloomberg.
• "A social-media campaign launched late last month touted immigration enforcement as an opportunity for father-son bonding and to 'deport illegals with your absolute boys,' a slang term for close friends," according to a Wall Street Journal report. "The Department of Homeland Security has invoked world-war-era imagery and touted 1990s Superman actor Dean Cain in an all-out blitz to persuade Americans they should join ICE's ranks. The federal government also offered hefty incentives: up to $50,000 in signing bonuses and up to $60,000 in student loan forgiveness. No undergraduate degree is required. DHS also lifted the age cap for law-enforcement roles, opening a deportation officer position specifically for people over 40, and tried to woo back retired law-enforcement officials with a 'return to mission' campaign."
• Meet the Iowa Democrat who sounds like a Republican and is currently running for governor.
• Robust changes to immigration screening:

NEWS — The Trump administration issued a memo signaling it will more heavily scrutinize applications filed by legal immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, its latest effort to tighten immigration benefits.

It expands the inquiry into whether someone has "good moral character." pic.twitter.com/IBFCk5xeun

— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) August 16, 2025

• I agree with this, but your mileage may vary; libertarians come down in very different places here.

Embryonic selection turns the parent-child relationship into a consumer-product relationship.

We already have some of that with sex-selective abortion, but the promise of embryonic selection is one of perfect customization of a consumer good.

— Santi Ruiz (@rSanti97) August 17, 2025

This round of embryonic screening/selection discourse was started by the excellent Ross Douthat interview of Orchid founder Noor Siddiqui.

Note the rhetorical devices used in the Orchid moral crusade: The implication is that if you don't screen your children and instead choose to have them naturally, you're neglectful, or you've abdicated your responsibility to them. https://t.co/D2Gex56JP3

— Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) August 16, 2025