Hundreds of National Guard soldiers in military fatigues and combat boots mingled with tourists, posed for selfies, and treated themselves to ice cream from food trucks on Thursday along Washington's National Mall,

President Donald Trump is visiting with law enforcement personnel and National Guard troops deployed in Washington as part of his law-enforcement crackdown, where parts of the nation’s capital have started to look like occupied territory with massive miliary transport vehicles dotting the city.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Trump’s law enforcement crackdown be armed, the Pentagon said Friday. The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed.