National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., have begun carrying firearms as former President Trump threatens to deploy troops to Chicago and Baltimore.

The National Guard said in a statement that the troops from D.C. and six other states will carry their service weapons — M17 pistols and M4 carbine rifles — under rules that "allow use of force only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.

President Donald Trump and Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), a rising star within the Democratic Party, traded verbal blows over the weekend. Moore began the recent feud with pointed criticism of the president for deploying the National Guard to Washington,