Atlantic writer Juliette Kayyem criticized for blaming Trump

Atlantic contributing writer Juliette Kayyem was criticized Thursday for an op-ed that said President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C. was endangering soldiers’ lives.

Kayyem, who is also a CNN national security analyst, argued that Trump’s dispatch of Guard troops to D.C. was an unnecessary demonstration that resulted in the shooting of two Guard members on Wednesday.

“Deploying military members based on performance has costs, one of which is the risk of putting them in harm’s way.” My trustee explained.

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Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, allegedly shot National Guard troops Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe just blocks from the White House on Wednesday in what authorities called a “targeted” attack. Beckstrom died from his injuries on Thanksgiving Day. Wolfe’s injuries continue to be treated.

Lakanwal is in custody and recovering in a hospital after being shot and wounded by other National Guard members. Trump described the shooting as a crime against the entire country and said the “animal” who committed the murder would pay “the heaviest price possible.”

Kayyem argued that the tragedy was preventable because Trump was warned not to station troops in the city in the first place.

“Troops deployed to reduce crime are untrained in law enforcement; their days are spent cleaning up trash and walking streets in uniform. It could put them in danger, commanders argued in a memo included in a lawsuit against the high-visibility mission in D.C.” he wrote.

Kayyem added that Trump’s decision was merely a way to attack his “political” rivals and was not a good use of U.S. military members.

“The National Guard has been deployed as part of the White House’s political offensive against cities run by Democrats, and the Guard is vulnerable because politics is not a military mission,” Kayyem continued.

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People walk past a small monument on a plantation near where two National Guard members were shot Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“Even if distributions to DC are legal, they lack a clear mandate and measures of success and have unclear rules of engagement and ill-defined operating procedures,” he added. “The morale of part-time volunteer soldiers who are forced to leave their homes to patrol the streets of an American city that Trump does not like is also low.”

Conservatives criticized Kayyem for the piece.

Prominent conservative

“2) Even if you disagree with the policy, that is clearly not the reason for yesterday’s attack. Someone determined to carry out such an attack would have found a target regardless of whether the national guard was deployed or not. In fact, their presence likely reduced the amount of damage this attacker inflicted, as others were able to heroically respond almost immediately.”

Commentator Noam Blum said: “This approach only works if you assume that being in our nation’s capital poses a risk to one’s safety. So you can either blame Trump for this, arguing that D.C. is too dangerous for members of the military, or you can just throw this stupid argument aside. You can’t have it both ways.”

Conservative writer Varad Mehta said, “These vermin really operate from a ‘skirts too short’ perspective. They are enemies of the people and should be treated as such.”

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Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard member from West Virginia, died after she and another guardsman were shot in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (United States Attorney for the District of Columbia/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Journalist Drew Holden wrote: “The media blames troops for being there in the terrorists’ line of fire while simultaneously minimizing blame for the attacker (“Look what the US government did!”).

The White House also condemned liberals who blamed Trump for the attack.

“This animal would never be here if it weren’t for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies that have allowed countless criminals to invade our country and harm the American people,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

“The Trump administration, in the face of relentless opposition from Democrats, is taking every possible action to remove these monsters from our country and clean up the mess created by the Biden administration. Democrats should join us in protecting the American people, not defending terrorists.”

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