Trump ‘resisted sending in National Guard’ after rioters stormed the Capitol

Capitol Hill police overwhelmed by mob

Donald Trump is said to have initially resisted sending in the National Guard to clear rioters who stormed the US Capitol, leaving it up to Mike Pence to do so.

Even though police on Capitol Hill were overwhelmed after they were stormed by the president’s supporters, shortly after a speech he delivered, Mr Trump was unwilling to activate the National Guard.

The New York Times said, instead, Mr Pence approved the order to deploy the guard, acting in conjunction with Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel.

The newspaper said the army activated 1,100 troops of the DC National Guard, an army official said.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s governor dispatched members of the Virginia Guard along with 200 Virginia State Troopers to quell the violence that played out in the nation’s capital.

It said the troops were sent to the DC Armory to be deployed to the US Capitol as well as other locations across the city.

The entire DC National Guard has been mobilised and is prepared to support law enforcement officers in various locations in the city to protect property, allowing federal and local law enforcement officers to do law enforcement missions,” Capt Tinashe Machona, a spokesman for the DC Guard, said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

While in the 50 US states, governors have the power and authority to deploy their national guards, in Washington DC, which is not a state, an order from the president is required.

The newspaper said defence and administration officials said it was Mr Pence, not President Trump, who approved the order to deploy the DC National Guard. It was unclear why the president resisted doing so.