Hegseth Orders 500 More Troops to DC in Wake of National Guard Shooting

A nation on the brink

The White House was placed on lockdown today following a shooting in downtown Washington, D.C., just two blocks northwest of the White House.

We are still learning new information, and this is breaking news as of Wednesday afternoon, but according to FBI Director Kash Patel, it appears that two National Guard members were shot and seriously injured. President Trump was not at the White House at the time of the shooting. Both the troopers and the suspect were taken to the hospital, according to a D.C. Fire and Emergency Services public information officer. Police have confirmed the suspected shooter is in custody, and Patel said during a news conference Wednesday that the suspect will be charged with assaulting a federal officer.

The extent of the soldiers' injuries is not yet clear. Patel confirmed at a press conference that they were alive but in critical condition. Associated Press reported that at least one of the soldiers exchanged fire with the shooter. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially said on social media that both National Guard members had been killed, and then, minutes later. I refuse this statement.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to news of the shooting by calling for more National Guard troops to be sent to the District of Columbia.

“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 make Washington a safe and beautiful place.”

Trump, who is in Florida for Thanksgiving, vowed to ensure that the shooter, whom he called an “animal,” “pays a very heavy price.”

“God bless our Great National Guard and all of our military and law enforcement. They are truly great people,” Trump wrote 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 as part of a showpiece crackdown on supposedly rampant crime and to help curb protests against his brutal and inhumane mass deportation efforts. Judge recently found the posting would be illegal, and the decision would likely end up reaching the Supreme Court.

Obviously, moments like this further irritate an already tense country due to the increasingly dangerous environment in which we live, where political violence has become more commonplace, even over the past year. Democratic lawmakers were assassinated in Minnesota this summer. Charlie Kirk was killed during a Turning Point USA event in Utah. Over the past few years, there have been two failed assassination attempts on Trump. Trump himself incited historically unprecedented political violence when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in 2021.

While the Trump administration maintains that troops were deployed to make American cities safer and protect Trump's immigration interests, the use of military force against U.S. civilians protesting ICE's presence is itself unprecedented and has in many cases served to further fuel violence and unrest rather than prevent it.

—Nicole LaFond

Trump will not be prosecuted for election interference in Georgia

A Georgia judge on Wednesday dismissed a decades-long election interference case against President Trump stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Trump and 18 others were indicted on racketeering charges back in August 2023 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The charges came after Trump's 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger came to light. “find” enough votes overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, a state that Joe Biden won by nearly 12,000 votes.

“It is my professional opinion that the citizens of Georgia will not benefit from a full trial of this case for another five to ten years,” prosecutor Peter Skandalakis, the prosecutor who took over the case, wrote in court Wednesday.

Soon after, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee officially dismissed the case.

— Chaya Himmelman

Trump scraps ACA extension

President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday he doesn't want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“I wouldn't want to. Someone said I want to extend them for two years. I don't want to extend them for two years. I would prefer not to extend them at all.” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday.

The president's refusal to extend the subsidies—which Democrats in Congress have been trying to get their Republican colleagues to do for months—came just days after the White House Trump's health care plan delayed it will reportedly extend ACA subsidies for two years, with eligibility adjustments including new income limits.

The plan that was reportedly distributed by the Trump White Housewas supposed to be released on Monday but was delayed. The White House has not given a reason for the delay, but it comes amid reports of opposition from Republicans in Congress who want the subsidies to end.

If the subsidies expire, premiums are expected to rise significantly for the millions of people who rely on the program. About two million more people are expected to remain uninsured next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

— Emine Yucel