Oh man, don’t let them into the Oval Office, because they’ll need an entire dumpster.
Many social media users were completely flabbergasted by a video published on X on Tuesday that showed fully uniformed members of the National Guard sporting orange reflective vests and picking up garbage around Washington DC.

President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to the city earlier this month in response to a supposed crime emergency that he claimed had unleashed “bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse” in the city.
Although Trump’s lies about DC crimehave been refuted — and many critics view them as a pretext for the president to normalise the presence of armed troops in the US — Trump continued the ruse on Monday by falselyclaimingthat this month marks the first time “in years” that the capital has gone 11 days without a murder.

But because the National Guard apparently did such a good job of preventing DC from becoming a Mad Max-esque hellscape by doing things like chatting with tourists and visiting various landmarks around the National Mall, the troops have moved on to fight a new foe wreaking havoc on the city: litter.
Yup, that’s right. The National Guard began picking up garbage over the weekend — presumably because there was nothing else for them to do. And of course, people on X and Bluesky had some thoughts, which you can see below.
Should do wonders for recruitment
— S. Hopkins (@92huskies) August 26, 2025Imagine being pulled from your job and family, to become Trump's parks & recreation clean-up force. What a waste.
— Milenka~ (@MilenaAmit) August 26, 2025