President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he has ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from Washington, D.C., stating that “everything is under perfect control” as anti-racism demonstrations continue worldwide.
“I have just given an order for our National Guard to start the process of withdrawing from Washington, D.C., now that everything is under perfect control,” the president tweeted.
Trump reportedly told advisers during a “contentious” meeting on Monday that he wanted to deploy as many as 10,000 National Guard troops to D.C., Reuters reported.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon ordered the National Guardsmen deployed in D.C. not use any firearms or ammunition, and on Friday, Esper ordered the remainder of active duty troops moved to the Washington area to return to their home bases.
Gen. James Mattis, who resigned as Trump’s secretary of defense last year, slammed the president’s rhetoric regarding the military as divisive and unconstitutional.
