Atlantic writer Juliette Kayyem criticized for blaming Trump

Atlantic author Juliette Kayyem was criticized Thursday for a column that stated the deployment of President Donald Trump’s Nationwide Guard put the lives of troops in D.C. in danger.

Kayyem, additionally a CNN nationwide safety analyst, argued that Trump’s deployment of Guard troops to DC was an pointless stunt that culminated within the capturing of two Guard members on Wednesday.

“There are prices related to deploying army personnel performatively – certainly one of which is the chance of endangering them,” Kayyem stated.

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Atlantic author Juliette Kayyem stated Trump endangered US Nationwide Guard troopers when he was deployed to Washington DC for a political stunt. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)

Afghan nationwide Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, reportedly shot Nationwide Guard troops Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe simply steps from the White Home in what officers on Wednesday known as a “focused” assault. Beckstrom died from her accidents on Thanksgiving Day. Wolfe continues to obtain remedy for his wounds.

Lakanwal is in custody and recovering within the hospital after being shot and wounded by different Nationwide Guard members. Trump known as the capturing against the law in opposition to your entire nation and stated the “animal” who dedicated the homicide would pay the “highest doable worth.”

Kayyem argued that the tragedy was avoidable as a result of Trump had been warned to not station troops within the metropolis within the first place.

“The troops, deployed in an effort to cut back crime, are untrained in regulation enforcement; their days are spent selecting up trash and strolling the streets in uniform. Commanders argued in a memo included within the lawsuit in opposition to the high-visibility mission in DC that this might put them in peril,” she wrote.

Kayyem added that Trump’s choice was only a strategy to assault his “political” opponents and never an excellent use of US army members.

“The Nationwide Guard has been deployed as a part of the White Home’s political assaults on Democratic-controlled cities, and Guard members are susceptible as a result of politics just isn’t a army mission,” Kayyem continued.

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Folks stroll previous a small memorial in a planter Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, close to the location the place two Nationwide Guard members had been shot in Washington. (AP Photograph/Mark Schiefelbein)

“Even when the deployments to DC had been authorized, they lack a transparent mandate and metrics for achievement, and have obscure guidelines of engagement and poorly outlined working procedures,” she added. “And morale is low amongst part-time volunteer troopers, who’ve needed to depart their houses to patrol the streets of an American metropolis Trump does not like.”

Conservatives condemned Kayyem for the piece.

Distinguished conservative X report, ‘AGHamilton29’, wrote: ‘This can be a crude and ignorant try and blame the victims of terrorism for terrorism. 1) The presence of Nationwide Guard troops has objectively decreased violent crime in DC, so it’s not performative.

“2) Even in case you disagree with the coverage, that’s clearly not the explanation for yesterday’s assault. Somebody dedicated to finishing up such an assault would have discovered a goal no matter whether or not the Nationwide Guard was deployed or not. In actual fact, their presence probably decreased the quantity of harm inflicted by this specific attacker, as others had been in a position to reply heroically nearly instantly.”

Commentator Noam Blum stated: “This method solely works in case you assume that merely being in our nation’s capital poses a safety danger. So you may blame Trump for this by claiming DC is just too harmful for members of the army, or you may stroll away from this idiotic argument. It could actually’t have it each methods.”

Conservative creator Varad Mehta wrote: “These vermin are actually taking the ‘their skirts had been too brief’ angle. Enemies of the individuals, and needs to be handled as such.”

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West Virginia Nationwide Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died after she and one other guard had been shot in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. (United States Legal professional for the District of Columbia/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photographs)

Journalist Drew Holden wrote, “The media on the identical time softening the blame of the shooter (‘look what the US authorities did!’) whereas blaming the troops within the line of terrorist fireplace for being there may be despicable.”

The White Home additionally condemned liberals who blamed Trump for the capturing.

White Home spokesperson Abigail Jackson instructed Fox Information Digital: “This animal would by no means have been right here with out Joe Biden’s harmful insurance policies, which allowed numerous unvetted criminals to invade our nation and hurt the American individuals.

“The Trump administration is taking each measure doable – regardless of relentless Democratic opposition – to get these monsters out of our nation and clear up the mess created by the Biden administration. As an alternative of defending terrorists, Democrats ought to be part of us in defending the American individuals.”

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