Living Under Siege: The Anxiety in DC as Generals Convene in Quantico

This week, as generals from across the globe gather in Quantico under the direction of the Secretary of the so-called “Department of War” (the Trump Administration’s latest renaming of the Department of Defense), Washington, DC feels like it’s holding its breath.

The symbolism isn’t lost on us. A meeting of global military leadership, called here, against the backdrop of a government shutdown and the memory of Trump’s past attempts to militarize the capital, is chilling. Instead of reassurance, it leaves residents on high alert. In a country that should make us feel safe, many of us feel like we are under attack by our own president.

Preparing for the Unthinkable

For months now, my neighbors, friends, and I have done things that once felt unimaginable in our own city. We’ve assembled go bags. We’ve pulled extra cash from the bank. We’ve made detailed plans on where we could flee, yes, flee, if things collapse into chaos. These are the conversations you might expect from communities bracing for natural disaster or foreign invasion, not families in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.

But that’s where we are. What used to be scenarios reserved for the “just in case” category now feel like rational preparations for an ever more likely possibility.

How Did We Get Here?

It’s worth asking: How did we arrive at this point? How are we still here, five years after January 6th, still bracing for “the next thing” from a leader who has shown us time and again how far he’s willing to go?

The rebranding of the Department of Defense to the Department of War isn’t just semantics. It’s a signal. And paired with the extraordinary gathering of military power in Quantico, it raises more questions than answers.

What new horror is on its way tomorrow?

A Nation Holding Its Breath

Anxiety isn’t just high in DC. Across the country, people are watching and waiting, caught between disbelief and dread. Each news alert brings the pulse quickening moment: Is this it?

In DC, that feeling is magnified. We live in the place where the weight of federal decisions is immediate, where occupation isn’t a memory but a possibility, and where the sense of siege is not metaphorical.

Where Do You Stand?

I want to ask you: how are you feeling in this moment? Are you also making plans, setting aside cash, talking about escape routes with loved ones? Or are you clinging to the hope that the institutions will hold?

For those of us here in DC, the anxiety feels like a constant companion. And as the world’s generals gather just down the road, it is impossible not to wonder: What comes next, and will we be ready?