Neighborhood resident and volunteer, Valencia Mohammed, center, talks to D.C. National Guard interim commander Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, right, and Lt. Col. Marcus Hunt, left, about cleanup efforts at Fort Stevens Recreation Center, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. Mohammed requested the cleanup. Marcus Hickman, Anacostia ANC Commisioner, is seen rear. Credit: AP/Gary Fields

WASHINGTON — The soldiers and airmen stood at the back of the black minivan, arming themselves — with black garbage bags and red-handled trash pickers — and headed for the park around the recreation center.

For the Washington, D.C., contingent of the National Guard deployed to the nation's capital, it marked their 119th beautification project since the unit was called up in August as part of President Donald Trump's federal law enforcement intervention. Their work has included cleaning graffiti in parks, picking up trash and refurbishing a recreation center. There are plans to help a school reading program in an often overlooked area of the city.

The hundreds of National Guard troops still deployed to the city — at times armed — have unnerved some residents, who see in them the manifestation of presidential overreach on law enforcement. And while there is deep mistrust over the motives of the overall deployment, others view the Guard in Washington, especially its local contingent's focus on community improvement efforts, with a measure of approval.

“I’m glad for the help,” said Sabir Abdul, 68, a resident who regularly cleans the trash and debris in the park around the Fort Stevens Recreation Center in Northwest D.C. “They have lives, but now they are here, helping us.”

The mixed feelings over the Guard deployment have forced local officials to strike a balance between opposing what they see as a flagrant violation of the city’s already limited autonomy and the acknowledgment that the district could use the help that at least the D.C. National Guard contingent has been providing.

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A lawsuit filed by D.C.’s attorney general challenging the deployment — part of a wave of legal action in multiple cities facing their own federal law enforcement interventions — will be heard on Friday.

Hundreds of National Guard troops have been in Washington, D.C., since Trump issued an emergency order in August, which launched what he said was a crime-fighting mission that also included the federal takeover of the local police department. The order expired last month, but the roughly 2,000 National Guard troops from D.C. and eight states remain in the city, with most contingents saying they plan to withdraw by the end of November.

In this image provided by Andy Koester, National Guard soldiers and other law enforcement agencies work to get a cat, top right, out of a tree in Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Credit: AP/Andy Koester