Hegseth Orders 500 More Troops to DC in Wake of National Guard Shooting
A nation on the edge
The White House was on lockdown earlier in the day after a shooting in downtown Washington, D.C., just two blocks northwest of the White House.
We’re still learning new information, and this is breaking news as of Wednesday afternoon, but it appears two National Guard members were seriously injured by gunfire, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. President Trump was not at the White House at the time of the shooting. The troopers and a suspect were transported to the hospital, according to the public information officer for DC Fire and Emergency Services. Police confirmed they had the suspected shooter in custody, and Patel said at a news conference Wednesday that the suspect would be charged with assault on a federal officer.
The extent of the soldiers’ injuries is not yet clear. Patel confirmed at the press conference that they were alive but in critical condition. The Associated Press reported that at least one of the soldiers exchanged fire with the gunman. West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey initially announced via social media that the National Guard members had both been killed, before retracting his statement minutes later.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to news of the shooting by requesting that additional National Guard troops be sent to Washington.
“President Trump has asked me and I will ask the Secretary of the Army National Guard to add 500 additional troops – National Guardsmen – to Washington, D.C.,” Hegseth said. “This will only strengthen our resolve to ensure that Washington, DC, is safe and beautiful.”
Trump, who is in Florida for Thanksgiving, vowed to make sure the shooter — who he called an “animal” — “pays a very high price.”
“God bless our great National Guard, and all of our military and law enforcement. They are truly great people,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the President, stand with you! »
National Guard troops were in Washington, D.C., as part of Trump’s nationwide deployment to predominantly blue U.S. cities, part of a performative crackdown on supposedly endemic crime and to help curb protests against his violent and inhumane mass deportation effort. A judge recently ruled the deployment illegal, a ruling that will likely eventually reach the Supreme Court.
Clearly, times like these further strain an already tense nation due to the increasingly tense environment we live in, where political violence has become more common, even over the past year. Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were killed this summer. Charlie Kirk was murdered at a Turning Point USA event in Utah. Trump has suffered two unsuccessful assassination attempts in recent years. Trump himself fueled unprecedented political violence when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in 2021.
While the Trump administration claims the troops were deployed to make American cities safer and protect Trump’s immigration interests, the use of the military against American civilians protesting the presence of ICE is itself unprecedented and, in many cases, has helped fuel more violence and unrest, rather than preventing it.
—Nicole LaFond
Trump will not be held accountable for Georgia election interference
A Georgia judge on Wednesday dropped the years-long election interference case against President Trump related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump and 18 others were charged with racketeering in August 2023 by Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis.
The accusations arose after a phone call by Trump with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger came to light in 2021. During that phone call, in addition to peddling countless lies about the 2020 election, he asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia – a state that Joe Biden won by nearly 12,000 voice.
“In my professional opinion, the citizens of Georgia have no interest in fully prosecuting this case for another five to ten years,” prosecutor Peter Skandalakis, the prosecutor who took over the case, wrote in a filing Wednesday.
Shortly afterward, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee officially dismissed the case.
—Khaya Himmelman
Trump cancels ACA extension
President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he does not want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expire at the end of the year.
“I’d rather not extend them. Someone said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday.
The president’s rejection of an extension of the subsidies — something congressional Democrats have been trying to force their Republican colleagues to do for several months — came just days after the White House delayed the release of a Trump health care plan that would have extended the ACA subsidies for two years with adjustments to eligibility requirements, including new income limits.
The plan, reportedly released by the Trump White House, was due to be released Monday but was delayed. The White House did not give a reason for the delay, but it came amid reports of pushback from congressional Republicans who would like to see an end to the subsidies.
If the subsidies expire, premiums are expected to rise significantly for the millions of people who rely on the program. And an estimated two million more people will go uninsured next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
-Emine Yucel
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