AUGUST 21, 2025 – Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined dozens of National Guardsmen for lunch at a Union Station burger eatery in downtown Washington today, where the senior executive branch leaders thanked the troops for their efforts to increase safety throughout the city.
Following President Donald J. Trump’s Aug. 11 declaration of a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, about 800 National Guard troops — both Army and Air National Guard — have been called up and activated on Title 32 status to participate in the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Joint Task Force District of Columbia.
“First of all, we’re saying … thank you to the National Guard folks, to the cops, for actually keeping this place safe. If you look at what’s happened in Washington, D.C., in just the past nine days, we’ve seen a 35% reduction in violent crime [and] we’ve seen over a 50% reduction in robberies,” Vance said during a brief media availability in the restaurant.
Hegseth said the American people and the residents of D.C. deserve a safe and beautiful city, and that is the task force’s mission.
“[These guardsmen are] here because they’re patriots who serve the country and believe we deserve a beautiful, safe capital. And when I talk to all these people, they’re proud of this mission [and] they’re proud to be a part of making sure the rule of law is established. … It’s an honor to be here with you,” Hegseth added.
Vance said the decision to station the guardsmen at Union Station was made due to the high crime rate in and around the facility, and that the station should be a place where families can go to restaurants or shopping without parents being afraid to bring their children.
“I think Union Station is a great example of what’s possible when you have the … willpower to bring law and order and common decency back to the public spaces of the United States of America,” Vance said.
When asked whether he thought the National Guard’s mobilization would go beyond 30 days, Vance said that would be the president’s determination to make.
“I think that we’re going to make a lot of progress over the next 20 days,” he said, adding, “What we’re going to do is try to empower these [guardsmen] to do as good of a job as possible to bring public safety and order back to Washington, D.C.”
By Matthew Olay, DOD News