Around two dozen soldiers stood guard outside Washington, Union Station in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 14. They had little to do.

National Guard troops scaled up their presence in D.C. Thursday, with several stationed around the National Mall, at Union Station, on the subway, and other places.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, who has denied crime is out of control in her city, described the troop deployment as an "authoritarian push". Trump, a Republican, has also threatened similar deployments against New York and Chicago, two other cities controlled by Democrats.