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A newly released Department of Defense (DOD) memo calls for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories to form “quick reaction forces” within the National Guard that will be trained in “riot control” procedures — the latest indication that President Donald Trump is set to escalate his militarization of cities across the country.
The October 8 memo was signed by Major General Ronald Burkett, the director of operations for the DOD’s National Guard bureau. The directive orders states’ National Guard units to train hundreds of troops in the use of batons, body shields, tasers, pepper spray, and other weaponry and military techniques.
Most states are being called upon to train at least 500 National Guard troops for the quick reaction forces, with some smaller states and territories being asked to train between 250 and 500 troops. The memo calls on every state’s National Guard to have quick reaction force members trained quickly, with the goal of having the forces operational by early next year.
The total size of the quick reaction forces will be 23,500 National Guard troops.
Speaking to The Guardian about the memo, Janessa Goldbeck, a former Marine Corps captain and chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation, called the directive “an attempt by the president to normalize a national, militarized police force.”
Goldbeck expressed concerns about future orders from Trump regarding the quick reaction forces, including potential interference in the 2026 midterms to further his own political aims.
“The president could declare a state of emergency and say that elections are rigged and use allegations of voter fraud to seize the ballots of secure voting centers,” Goldbeck suggested.
“[The administration is] increasing their ability to mobilize National Guard forces, federalize them and use them over the opposition of localities and governors. … [I]t’s going to break the American order, our constitutional order, if Congress and governors can’t check executive power,” said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, speaking to The Washington Post.
Deploying the National Guard to U.S. cities has traditionally been reserved for extraordinary circumstances, like natural disasters. In his second term in office, however, Trump has regularized the practice, attempting to justify his actions by claiming troops are needed to crack down on crime or assist federal immigration agents in carrying out his anti-immigrant agenda. Critics maintain Trump’s deployment of troops is actually politically motivated, as the president has repeatedly targeted cities with Democratic leaders who have opposed his policies.
Trump has sent troops to Memphis, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. His orders to send troops to Portland were blocked by a federal district judge, whose order was overturned by an appellate court panel earlier this month. However, that decision is itself being appealed to the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump also attempted to send National Guard troops to Chicago, where another federal judge blocked his order. The administration has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which this week ordered briefing materials relating to additional questions in the case to be submitted no later than November 10, indicating that justices are in no rush to decide on the matter.
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if courts continued to block him from sending the National Guard to cities, allowing him to deploy U.S. military troops to those areas instead.
“If I had to enact it, I’d do it…[if] courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up,” Trump said.
While in Japan this week, addressing U.S. military personnel, Trump reiterated his plans to potentially use the U.S. military if courts prevent him from deploying the National Guard.
“We have cities that are troubled, we can’t have cities that are troubled,” Trump claimed in his speech. “And we’re sending in our National Guard, and if we need more than the National Guard, we’ll send more than the National Guard, because we’re going to have safe cities.”
Prior to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops, most U.S. cities had seen huge drops in violent crime rates.
Increased militarization of U.S. cities could have grave consequences, including further crackdowns on protests and due process rights continuing to be disregarded for immigrants and U.S.-born citizens alike.
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