War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday commented on the Trump Administration’s plans to deploy National Guard troops across the country in response to civil unrest during a roundtable event on the Trump Administration’s fight against drug cartels.
The President alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Hegseth, and other administration and law enforcement officials touted the success of the Homeland Security Task Forces, establushed in Trump’s January 20 “Protecting the American People Against Foreign Invasion” executive order, which led to the seizure of over 150,000 lbs of narcotics and the arrest of over 3,000 terrorist cartel members in recent months.
After Hegseth shared details on the Department of War’s contribution to destroying cartel influence in the United States, the Gateway Pundit asked him to confirm the authenticity of a memo that is circulating on social media, detailing an apparently new operation to prepare a National Guard Response Force prepared to deploy within 24 hours to quash civil unrest in every US state and territory.
National Guard response forces are nothing new, and have been used numerous times, notably on January 6, 2021, when Virginia, Maryland, and other surrounding states activated their National Guard response forces and authorized the deployment of hundreds of troops to Washington, DC.
But this latest document came out amid organized chaos and riots across the nation as the Trump Administration deploys federal agents to deport illegal aliens in sanctuary cities.
Units of up to 500 troops must be trained in crowd control, civil disturbance, and employment of non-lethal weapons, and be ready to deploy 100% of their forces within 24 hours in any state if necessary, according to the memo.
Trump has teased invoking the Insurrection Act several times, leading to speculation that there are plans to use National Guard troops to stop an uprising.
Hegseth declined to comment on “something that may be in the planning process,” but flexed the capabilities of the “multiple layers of National Guard response forces” the administration is prepared to use, pointing to Title 10 and Title 32, laws which are used to deploy National Guard troops for federal active duty service and state-controlled active duty service, respectively.
“We’ve got a lot of different ways that, constitutionally and legally, we can employ Title 10 and Title 32 forces, and we will do so when necessary,” Hegseth said.
WATCH:
Conradson: A memo circulating on social media details the establishment of a National Guard Response Force that’s going to be trained in crowd control and civil unrest and deployed in all 50 states by April 2026. Can you verify the authenticity of that memo? And do you have any more information on the operations?
Hegseth: I’m not going to answer particulars on something that may be in the planning process, but we definitely do have multiple layers of National Guard response forces, whether it’s in each state, whether it’s regionally, whether it’s Title 10 active duty, whether it’s Washington, DC, we’ve got a lot of different ways that, constitutionally and legally, we can employ Title 10 and Title 32 forces, and we will do so when necessary.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, the memo, which was leaked to investigative reporter Anthony Cabassa, outlines the planned implementation of a “National Guard Response Force” (NGRF), which will be used for crowd control and civil disturbance operations in all states, territories, and the District of Columbia.
While the memo may be part of routine operations, Cabassa reports that a source told him the move is “not normal,” and they “have never seen an order like this before.”
“It also feels like leadership has intelligence or indications that something more significant could happen between January and May [of 2026]. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be pulling specialized… forces into a role [they] were never meant to fill,” the source added.
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The post WATCH: War Secretary Hegseth Responds to Leaked Memo on Nationwide National Guard Response Force Establishment by April 2026, Confirms Administration Ready to Mobilize National Guard “When Necessary” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.