National Guard troops in DC are now armed, defense official says

As of Sunday night, National Guard troops operating in Washington, D.C., are now armed, according to a defense official.

This will apply to the more than 2,200 guardsmen from D.C. and other states that are now serving in the mission in D.C.

Separately, a spokesperson for Joint Task Force-DC confirmed under what rules they can be used.

“The Secretary of Defense has directed JTF-DC service members to carry their assigned service weapon. Task force personnel operate under the established Rules for the Use of Force, which allow the use of force only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. JTF-DC remains committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of the residents of the District of Columbia,” a JTF-DC spokesperson said in a statement.

“Soldiers will be able to carry their service-issued weapons, which may include M-17 pistols or M-4 rifles,” the statement continued.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that planning is underway at the Pentagon for the potential use of National Guard forces in Chicago.

The possible call-up of National Guard members in that city was first reported by the Washington Post.

The Pentagon did not provide a comment, but a Defense official said, “We won’t speculate on further operations. The Department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said, “There’s no basis, no authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to drop federal troops into the city of Chicago.”

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Sunday, his office said in a statement.

The Salvadoran man, who was wrongly deported in March before being brought back to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges, was released from criminal custody in Tennessee and sent back to Maryland on Friday.

“I was glad to have the opportunity to speak with Kilmar Ábrego García this morning and welcome him back to Maryland after what has been a long and torturous nightmare,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “It was the first time I have talked to him since our meeting in El Salvador. During our conversation, I shared with him that I and many others have been fighting for months to ensure that his constitutional due process rights were respected despite Trump’s efforts to deny them at every turn.”

Van Hollen previously met in April with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador where he was imprisoned.

Van Hollen said the Trump administration’s attempts to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda amounts to “a malicious abuse of power.”

“As I told Kilmar and his wife Jennifer, we will stay in this fight for justice and due process because if his rights are denied, the rights of everyone else are put at risk,” Van Hollen said.

-ABC News’ Laura Romero

Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore responded to Trump’s offer to send “troops” to Baltimore to fight crime, saying the president was engaging in “scare tactics.”

Moore last week invited Trump to participate in a public safety walk with Baltimore elected officials and law enforcement next month, but the president instead offered to send troops to “clean up crime.”

“And so, the reason that I've asked the president to come and join us is because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance, these tropes, in these 1980 scare tactics,” Moore told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”.

“Because while the president is spending his time from the Oval Office making jabs and attacks at us, there are people actually on the ground doing the work who know what supports would actually work to continue to bring down crime. But it's falling on deaf ears of the President United States,” Moore continued.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has said that the city needs more federal support when it comes to crime, wanting agents from the FBI, DEA and ATF, but not suggesting anything about the military. Asked if Maryland needs more federal help in policing, Moore said yes and that Trump needs to stop cutting federal funding for it.

“Oh, absolutely. And we need the president to stop cutting funding, because if you look at the president's budget, it actually cuts funding towards violence intervention groups. It cuts funding towards the bureaus of the FBI and the ATF that are supporting local jurisdictions like Baltimore,” Moore said.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie