Trump administration members move to military bases for security

WashingtonBehind the pink sunglasses, Jane, a middle-aged Black woman, listlessly watches her chihuahua lift its leg on the grass bordering Fort McNair military base, southwest of Washington. Behind the red brick walls and fences with signs reading "Military Zone. No photos or videos allowed," there is an entire residential area designated for high-ranking generals, featuring stately homes, a gym, and even a fire station. Now, for a few months, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also live there. They have moved for security reasons, given the growing climate of political violence in the United States. "I had heard that they had moved here now. With the world the way it is now, living next door gives me a certain sense of security," explains Jane. Last Saturday, Cole Thomas Allen burst into the Washington Hilton Hotel to attempt an attack on President Donald Trump. A good portion of the US government was in the room.

Without a doubt, the area around Fort McNair is a quiet area. Still, on days when there's a game at Audi Field stadium, the roar from the stands must surely be heard. The calm that prevails is similar to that of the city's wealthy suburbs, although the buildings in front of the base are not McMansions, but rather humble apartment blocks. The guarantor of order here is not the power of capital, but the respect imposed by the military presence. Some of the dilapidated houses that still remain are a vestige of when, in the 1950s, Southwest was one of the poorest areas in the capital, marked by shootings and high crime rates.

Seventy years after the neighborhood was a no-go zone, here locals walk their dogs and occasionally a cyclist passes by, taking advantage of the spring sun to cycle along the banks of the Anacostia River. The military base is located on a sort of peninsula where the Anacostia meets the Potomac River. Even though the pointed gates at the entrance separate the compound from the rest of the city, the street continues down inside the base. The green grass inside, bordering the asphalt, is the same color as the one Jane's dog is walking on. The ash trees are also the same ones that shade both sides of the street. In the background, past the control booths, there is an imposing American flag flying high on a white flagpole. Although it is a military base, the people seen walking around inside are dressed in civilian clothes.

It is unusual for Hegseth and Rubio to live here. Normally, cabinet members opt to stay in the colonial houses of Georgetown, in the embassy area of Kalorama, or in the wealthy and isolated neighborhoods of Northern Virginia. For example, at the Compass Coffee in Georgetown overlooking Wisconsin Avenue, it is relatively easy to bump into the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, buying a coffee. But lately, more and more officials from the Trump administration are moving to military facilities like Fort McNair for security reasons. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also live in similar facilities elsewhere in the city. Although Noem must already be packing her bags. Once their work within the cabinet ends, access to these types of rentals ends.

The relocation of executive members to military bases is also another symptom of how political violence has settled in American society and raises many questions about the country's current state. Jane admits she was not surprised by Saturday's attack on Trump at the Washington Hilton. A cynical laugh escapes her when I ask if she remembers how she reacted when the Butler attack occurred – the first against the Republican, which took place in July 2024 – and how she reacted over the weekend seeing images from the correspondents' dinner. "It's true they are different, one from the other. But that there would be another attack against him didn't surprise me. People are tired," she states. Cole traveled by train from California with multiple weapons to try not only to attack the president but also all members of his cabinet, according to the manifesto attributed to him.

In another unusual gesture, at the correspondents' dinner, not only the president and vice president, J.D. Vance, were present. A good number of government officials were also among the diners, including Rubio, Hegseth, and Miller. Separately, the FBI director, Kash Patel; the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, were also present. Although it seems that members of the Trump administration are trying to increase security in their daily lives, the meeting at the Hilton was not classified as a special national security event.Violence becomes normality

Tuesday, three days after the attack, conversations about that night floated in the Congress press room. Some with more epic than others. But all with the same tone of tired déjà-vu that is commented on while waiting for the politician of the moment to appear. In that case it was King Charles III. A colleague who was at the dinner told me that he had not seen the gravity of the event until European televisions had started calling him to give testimony. According to him, between the stress of the live broadcast and the fact that it was not the first time they had tried to kill Trump, he had not had time to process the real danger of the moment. And consequently, the gravity.

Jane also believes that the people around her are "immune" to violence. "Violence is everywhere. On social media we do nothing but see videos, like when Charlie Kirk was murdered, and other images of assassination attempts. And then you have the younger generations who are growing up with these things. So, what do you think a ten or fifteen-year-old child who receives this daily, whether through social media or the media, thinks? Imagine when they are forty years old. For them, it's the day-to-day: gun violence, shooting drills... I myself have one of these drills at work soon. I mean, this is becoming a potential day-to-day situation that we are supposed to deal with. And yes, it's normalized," she concludes with concern.

Around the corner, after walking for a while around the wall until reaching the entrance, two men are taking photographs of the building. Neither of them wants to identify themselves because they say they are on duty. One of them wears a pin with the initials of the DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) on the lanyard from which hangs what appears to be an identification, but it is turned upside down. "This is all the fault of the liberals, of the left-wing lunatics," replies the man who is not wearing the pin. His small, blue eyes light up when he starts talking about Saturday's attack. When asked if he was surprised that it happened again, he says no. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried it again."

His companion, who is wearing sunglasses, tries to ease the tension a bit: "In the end, they are just a few crazies, but I'll tell you something: the number of people who love Trump is much higher than the number of people who hate him. And if they try to get rid of him, they will end up breaking the country."

The man with the pin initially denies that the level of political violence has increased. But when I remind him that in just two years they have tried to kill Trump three times (the Butler attack, the Palm Beach attack, and the Hilton attack), he backtracks: "Well, yes, it has increased, really. This didn't happen before." Beyond the assassination attempts, in the last two years the country has experienced notable cases of political violence. Apart from the murder of the far-right influencer, Charlie Kirk, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota and her husband were also murdered in their home last June. The murderer also attempted to kill another Democratic congressman, whom he left seriously injured. Political violence is spreading in all directions, but the man without the pin, who seems tired of the conversation, adds: "It's the fault of the left-wing lunatics." Trump has also been blaming the opposition, using these same words.