Trump orders troops to leave

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he ordered National Guard troops to withdraw from the nation’s capital, after a week of relentless criticism over his threat to militarize the government’s response to nationwide protests, including rebukes from inside the military establishment itself.

Trump announced his order on Twitter as three former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff harshly condemned him for using force to drive protesters back from the White House and threatening to send troops to quell protests in other cities.

The president said the National Guard soldiers would withdraw “now that everything is under perfect control.”

“They will be going home, but can quickly return, if needed,” he wrote on Twitter. “Far fewer protesters showed up last night than anticipated!” (In fact, the daylong protest in Washington on Saturday appeared larger than earlier rallies over the past week.)

The withdrawal capped a tumultuous week that badly strained relations between Trump and the military, and tested the constraints on a president’s ability to deploy troops on American soil. Federal authorities used chemical irritants and flash-bang grenades to clear peaceful protesters outside the White House for a photo opportunity by Trump, and National Guard helicopters flew low over demonstrators to scatter them.

On Sunday, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington called the Trump administration’s deployment of troops to the area “an invasion.” And the retired military commanders said the troops should never have been there.

“We have a military to fight our enemies, not our own people,” said Mike Mullen, a retired Navy admiral who was the top military adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.