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Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced Friday that its Starship megarocket is scheduled to blast off on a new test flight next weekend after recent attempts have ended in fiery explosions.The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle in history is planned to return Americans to the Moon — and is central to the dreams of colonizing Mars envisioned by Musk, the world’s richest person.But repeated explosions that sent debris raining down over Caribbean islands and disrupted flights have piled pressure onto SpaceX to pull off a smoother trial run.The rocket’s 10th test flight is set to launch as soon as August 24 from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas, SpaceX said on its website.During two test flights earlier this year, the rocket’s upper stage — which is the spacecraft intended to carry crew and cargo — erupted in fiery cascades not long after launch.Starship managed to make it to space during the last test in late May, however it then blew up when a fuel leak caused it to lose control.The rocket’s propulsion system was also supposed to execute a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico — but it disintegrated before reaching the water.Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, the black-and-white behemoth is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at relatively low cost.SpaceX has been betting that its “fail fast, learn fast” ethos — which helped it dominate commercial spaceflight — will once again pay off.But the latest string of setbacks, which also includes an explosion during a routine ground test in June, has raised serious questions about Starship’s progress.Musk — who is known for making extremely ambitious proposals — maintains that the rocket will launch its first uncrewed missions to Mars next year.SpaceX has also been sharply criticized over the impact its launches have on people and the environment near where its rockets blast off. In June, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened to sue SpaceX over falling debris and contamination from its launches.More Starship tests are expected in the coming months, however, after the US aviation regulator approved the number of its annual launches increasing from five to 25.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands and smiled at an air base in Alaska on Friday as they opened a high-risk summit that will test the US president’s promise to end the bloody war in Ukraine.In choreographed drama, Trump and Putin each arrived in their presidential jets and walked under gray skies to greet each other on the tarmac, before walking a red carpet together to an honor guard salute.As fighter jets circled overhead, a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”Neither leader answered as they posed at a podium that said “Alaska 2025” before Putin — in a highly unusual move — followed Trump into the US presidential limousine.For the Russian president, the summit marks his first foray onto Western soil since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a relentless conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.- Talks underway -Both leaders have voiced hopes of a productive meeting. But while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the two would speak for at least six or seven hours.In recent days Russia has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations, although Ukraine announced as Putin was flying that it had retaken some villages.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump sounded a positive note. “There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said.Trump has insisted he will be firm with Putin, after coming under some of the most heated criticism of his presidency for appearing cowed during a 2018 summit in Helsinki.The White House on Friday abruptly announced that Trump was scrapping a plan to see Putin alone and instead would be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his roving envoy Steve Witkoff before a working lunch.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.”It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday he was not going to Alaska to negotiate.”I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.”We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script.Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.- ‘Severe’ consequences -Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war, and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours.But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.Saying he “would walk” from the table if the meeting didn’t go well, Trump told reporters he “wouldn’t be happy” if a ceasefire could not be secured immediately.The talks were taking place at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia — a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps.Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.The summit marks a sharp change in approach from Western European leaders and Biden, who vowed not to hold discussions with Russia on Ukraine unless Kyiv was also involved.

A US appeals court cleared the way Friday for President Donald Trump’s administration to implement mass firings at a bank regulator set up after the 2008 financial crisis.The decision sets the stage for significant staff cuts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog for banks and fintech companies that has been long targeted by congressional Republicans and far-right Trump allies.By a 2-1 vote, the appeals court panel annulled a preliminary injunction issued by a US district court in March that had given a lifeline to agency staff. Labor unions representing CFPB workers had argued that Trump appointees’ mass downsizing of CFPB effectively destroyed the agency, overstepping constitutional authority. “We hold that the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the claims predicated on loss of employment,” said the ruling. “Accordingly, we vacate the preliminary injunction.”The ruling was backed by Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, who were appointed to the court by Trump during his first term.Dissenting was Judge Cornelia Pillard, appointed in 2013 by Democrat Barack Obama, who endorsed the district court’s conclusion that a deep downsizing of the CFPB amounted to the destruction of the agency.While the president holds great influence over the CFPB, the administration does not have the power to “decide that the country would benefit most if there was no Bureau at all,” Pillard said, adding that only Congress has the authority to repeal the law that created the CFPB.The CFPB was formed in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, and serves as a monitor over a variety of US consumer issues ranging from mortgages to credit cards to debt collection.In February, Trump designated Russell Vought as director of the CFPB. Vought, who also leads the White House Office of Management and Budget, was a key architect of the conservative blueprint known as Project 2025, which called for the abolishment of the agency.On Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi cheered the appeals court ruling as clearing the way for the CFPB “to right-size itself in accordance with the law to best serve the American people.”The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB staff, decried the ruling.”This decision could lead to widescale firings, which would result in the cessation of the Bureau’s important work protecting consumers,” said NTEU president Doreen Greenwald, adding that the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to consumers since its establishment in 2011.The union can appeal Friday’s decision to the full appeals court.

From false claims of a Ukrainian assassin shot dead in Alaska to baseless reports of Russia declaring the sale of the territory to the United States illegal, misinformation has swirled around the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.The online falsehoods spreading across tech platforms were muddying the waters around Friday’s closely watched Alaska summit, a test of the US president’s pledge to end the three-year bloody war in Ukraine.”Malign actors (have) flooded the internet and social media with falsehoods and distortions” that were “circulating from across the political spectrum and across the globe,” disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said in a report.Among them was the unfounded claim that American soldiers had recently shot and killed a Ukrainian assassin named Stefan Orestovych, a supposed trained sniper for Ukraine’s special forces, in the Alaskan city of Wasilla.There was no evidence that an assassin by that name even exists.The falsehood, which circulated on X, Instagram, a QAnon conspiracy theory platform as well as a Sri Lankan news website, originated on Real Raw News, according to NewsGuard.A self-proclaimed “humor, parody, and satire” site, Real Raw News is often mistaken as a legitimate news outlet and has repeatedly been called out by researchers for publishing fabricated claims about the Russia-Ukraine war as well as American officials and politicians.Trump critics online have also falsely claimed that Putin signed a decree in January last year declaring Russia’s sale of Alaska to the United States “illegal,” while mocking the US president for hosting a leader who purportedly rejected American sovereignty over the territory.Putin was “preparing the future annexation of Alaska and Trump fell for it,” one user wrote on X, an unfounded claim that has also spread across Bluesky and TikTok.The United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia, and there was no evidence that Putin had signed such a decree.Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin nationalist accounts on social media were circulating an image of a fake “People’s Republic of Alaska” flag, using the summit to assert that the territory rightfully belonged to Russia.The images were being spread online by Russian nationalist media outlets as well as the Pravda network, a well-resourced Moscow-based operation known to circulate pro-Russian narratives globally.”The fake flag is the latest instalment in a decades-old narrative pushed by ultra-nationalists in Russia, framing the Nineteenth Century sale of Alaska as a national betrayal,” NewsGuard report said.The swirling misinformation underscores how easily online falsehoods can originate and spread around a high-profile event, especially across tech platforms that have largely scaled back content moderation.Trump extended the invitation for the summit at the Russian leader’s suggestion. The meeting will be closely followed by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.

US retail sales rose moderately in July, according to data released Friday, as markets monitor tariffs that do not so far appear to have significantly battered consumers.Overall sales climbed 0.5 percent to $726.3 billion from June, in line with expectations. Gains in motor vehicles and parts and furniture offset declines in electronics and building materials.Analysts described the report as solid, but some pointed to a greater risk of weakening in retail sales in the second half of 2025 following disappointing recent labor market data. Consumer spending is a major driver of the world’s biggest economy.”This report will ease some of the worries about the health of consumers’ spending following the tariff shock,” said a note from Oliver Allen, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.”That said, growth in consumption still looks relatively weak, and the softening labor market and further likely pass-through of tariffs suggest a sharp reacceleration is unlikely.”The report comes as surveys point to a partial recovery in consumer sentiment compared with the spring, following a dive in the stock market after President Donald Trump in early April unveiled plans for sweeping, large tariff increases with trading partners that have since been watered down somewhat.A survey released Friday from the University of Michigan suggested consumers are girding for a worse hit ahead, with year-ahead inflation expectations rising to 4.9 from 4.5 percent.Overall, the report showed a dip in consumer sentiment in August to 58.6 points from 61.7 in July. The reading bottomed out at 52.2 in the spring.”Consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April when reciprocal tariffs were announced and then paused,” said survey director Joanne Hsu.”However, consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.”- Retailers absorb hit -Since the spring, Trump has suspended many of the most onerous tariffs and announced preliminary trade deals with some major partners such as Japan and the European Union.But the net effect of his evolving policy is still a lofty tariff rate by historical standards — even if it is not as high as earlier threats.Moreover, Trump is continuing to unveil new levies. On Friday, the president told reporters he would set tariffs “next week and the week after” on semiconductors and steel.Data released earlier this week showed a bigger uptick in wholesale prices compared with consumer prices. Some analysts warned that dynamic could mean that those pricing pressures will soon be passed on to consumers.Aware of the vulnerability of consumers, many retailers are so far accepting lower profit margins and absorbing some of the tariffs “with the intention of eventually offsetting it through cost reductions elsewhere,” said Neil Saunders of GlobalData.”While some price increases are almost certain, the overall tariff response is shaping up to be far more mixed than initially anticipated,” Saunders added.This approach is seen with auto dealers so far, with auto sales rising 1.6 percent, according to Friday’s data.”Consumers maintain a moderate rate of spending and even picked up the pace in the past two months as the tariff-price pass-through has been limited thus far,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide Financial.Time will tell whether there is a greater hit to consumers down the line. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said US data Friday that showed an uptick in import prices in July constituted “new evidence of price pressure building in the pipeline,” adding that “consumer spending is slowing.”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin flew to Alaska on Friday for a high-risk summit that promises a stern test of the US president’s promise to end the bloody war in Ukraine.Both leaders voiced hopes of a productive meeting, but while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the two would speak for “a minimum” of at least six or seven hours.For the Russian president, the meeting marks his first foray onto Western soil since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a relentless conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.In recent days Russia has made significant battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump sounded a positive note. “There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.”It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday he was not going to Alaska to “negotiate.””I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.”We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script.Russia’s “position is clear and unambiguous,” he said.Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.- Trump’s latest shift -Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours.But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a stunning February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.Trump has acknowledged his frustration with Putin and warned of “very severe consequences” if he does not accept a ceasefire — but also agreed to see him in Alaska.The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia — a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps.The Kremlin said it expected Putin and Trump to meet alone with interpreters before a working lunch with aides.Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.- ‘Personal victory’ for Putin? -The summit marks a sharp shift from the approach of Western European leaders and Biden, who vowed not to hold discussions with Russia on Ukraine’s future unless Kyiv was also at the table.Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, leading him to curtail travel sharply since the war began.However, the United States is not party to the Hague tribunal and Trump’s Treasury Department temporarily eased sanctions on top Russian officials to allow them to travel and use bank cards in Alaska.Zelensky has called the Alaska summit a “personal victory” for Putin, whose forces have gone on the offensive in eastern Ukraine in recent days.With the trip, Putin “is coming out of isolation,” Zelensky said, and he has “somehow postponed sanctions,” which Trump had vowed to impose on Russia if there was no progress.

The attorney general for the US capital Washington has sued Donald Trump’s administration over what he called a “hostile takeover” of the city’s police force, which the Republican president said was necessary to fight violent crime.Earlier this week, Trump placed the capital’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal government control while also sending 800 National Guard troops onto the city’s streets. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday then issued an order to install a hand-picked official — Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole — as “emergency” police commissioner.Federal law governing the capital “does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote in a filing lodged in federal court.”Defendants have unlawfully seized operational control of MPD, including by assuming positions in the chain of command and issuing policy directives to MPD.”Schwalb has asked for a temporary restraining order on Bondi’s order, and for the court to declare that Trump’s executive order exceeds his authority over the District of Columbia.A hearing has been set for 2:00 pm local time (1800 GMT).”By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said in a statement on social media.”This is an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home.”Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said late Thursday that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”- Special status -Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city’s budget.The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.But data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.Bowser said earlier this week that violent crime was “at its lowest level in 30 years.”Trump has said he wants to tackle homeless encampments, and move those sleeping rough “FAR from the Capital.”Washington is ranked 15th on a list of major US cities by homeless population, according to government statistics from last year. On his Truth Social platform, Trump this week described Washington as “under siege from thugs and killers,” with higher crime rates than “many of the most violent Third World Countries.”But residents rejected that depiction.”It’s totally false, and obviously promulgated on his media to justify an unwarranted exercise of federal power,” 81-year-old Larry Janezich told AFP on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska in a high-risk summit that could prove decisive for the future of Ukraine.Putin will step onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a relentless war that has killed tens of thousands of people and has seen Russia make rapid gains just before the summit.Trump extended the invitation at the Russian leader’s suggestion, but the US president has since been defensive and warned that the meeting could be over within minutes if Putin does not compromise.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump sounded a positive note.”There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.”It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday that he was not going to Alaska to “negotiate.””I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.”We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script.Russia’s “position is clear and unambiguous,” he said.Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.- Trump’s latest shift -Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours.But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a stunning February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.Trump has acknowledged his frustration with Putin and warned of “very severe consequences” if he does not accept a ceasefire — but also agreed to see him in Alaska.The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1930 GMT)at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia — a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps.The Kremlin said it expected Putin and Trump to meet alone with interpreters before a working lunch with aides.Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.- A ‘personal victory’ for Putin? -The summit marks a sharp shift from the approach of Western European leaders and Biden, who vowed not to hold discussions with Russia on Ukraine’s future unless Kyiv was also at the table.Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, leading him to curtail travel sharply since the war began.However, the United States is not party to the Hague tribunal and Trump’s Treasury Department temporarily eased sanctions on top Russian officials to allow them to travel and use bank cards in Alaska.Zelensky has called the Alaska summit a “personal victory” for Putin, whose forces have gone on the offensive in eastern Ukraine in recent days.With the trip, Putin “is coming out of isolation,” Zelensky said, and he has “somehow postponed sanctions,” which Trump had vowed to impose on Russia if there was no progress.

All 800 National Guard troops who were ordered to the US capital Washington to aid law enforcement personnel by President Donald Trump have now been mobilized, the Pentagon said Thursday.Trump ordered the deployment — which follows a similar move during protests in Los Angeles in June — as part of what he billed as a crackdown on crime in Washington, where violent offenses are in fact down.”As of today, all 800 Army and Air National Guardsmen are mobilized… as part of Joint Task Force DC, and they are now here in our capital,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told journalists.They “will assist the DC Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement partners with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities and officers” and traffic control posts, Wilson said.The troops “will remain until law and order has been restored in the District, as determined by the president,” she added.The US Army later said the National Guard’s initial mission “is to provide a visible presence in key public areas, serving as a visible crime deterrent.””They will not arrest, search, or direct law enforcement,” but they “have the authority to temporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm,” the Army said in a statement.The troops will be equipped with protective gear, it added, saying that weapons would be available if needed but would remain in the armory.Trump announced the National Guard deployment — along with a federal takeover of the city’s police department — on Monday, vowing “to take our capital back.”In a further tightening of control, US Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order late Thursday granting the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration the executive powers of Washington police chief, codifying the federal takeover of the capital’s law enforcement.The city’s Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser reacted to Bondi’s order in a post on X, in which she said: “We have followed the law… there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”Bowser’s post also contained images of a letter from the district’s elected attorney general Brian Schwalb to Washington’s police chief Pamela Smith.”It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,” Schwalb wrote.The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.However, data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was spurred by immigration enforcement raids.It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.Most National Guard forces answer to state governors and have to be “federalized” to be brought under presidential control, but in Washington these troops already report only to the US president.

All 800 National Guard troops who were ordered to the US capital Washington to aid law enforcement personnel by President Donald Trump have now been mobilized, the Pentagon said Thursday.Trump ordered the deployment — which follows a similar move during protests in Los Angeles in June — as part of what he billed as a crackdown on crime in Washington, where violent offenses are in fact down.”As of today, all 800 Army and Air National Guardsmen are mobilized… as part of Joint Task Force DC, and they are now here in our capital,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told journalists.They “will assist the DC Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement partners with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities and officers” and traffic control posts, Wilson said.The troops “will remain until law and order has been restored in the District, as determined by the president,” she added.The US Army later said the National Guard’s initial mission “is to provide a visible presence in key public areas, serving as a visible crime deterrent.””They will not arrest, search, or direct law enforcement,” but they “have the authority to temporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm,” the Army said in a statement.The troops will be equipped with protective gear, it added, saying that weapons would be available if needed but would remain in the armory.Trump announced the National Guard deployment — along with a federal takeover of the city’s police department — on Monday, vowing “to take our capital back.”In a further tightening of control, US Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order late Thursday granting the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration the executive powers of Washington police chief, codifying the federal takeover of the capital’s law enforcement.The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.However, data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was spurred by immigration enforcement raids.It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.Most National Guard forces answer to state governors and have to be “federalized” to be brought under presidential control, but in Washington these troops already report only to the US president.