The Introspective

The week ended with DNA sampling at protests, shifts in student loan oversight, military funding requests, and expanded troop deployments.

Dante Belcher

Mar 23, 2026

Trump’s 61st week ended with updates to Iran, immigration, the National Guard and education. As the war continues, more than 2,200 Marines were deployed to the Middle East after 2,500 Marines were previously sent to the region, raising implications as the Pentagon requested $200 billion for the war.

At the same time, as the federalization of Washington, D.C., continues, the Pentagon plans to keep the National Guard in the nation’s capital until 2029—the end of Trump’s second term.

As anti-immigrant sentiment continues, Trump threatened to place Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in airports amid the ongoing government shutdown, while a report from NPR found that ICE agents were taking DNA samples from protesters who have been arrested. Meanwhile, as Trump’s initiative to downsize the federal government continues, the administration transferred federal student loan responsibility to the Treasury Department.

Iran and National Guard

As the war in Iran continues, the Pentagon requested an additional $200 billion in funding, raising implications as more than 2,200 Marines were deployed to the region.

“As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“We’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is—everything’s refilled, and not just refilled, but above and beyond.”

Gen. Dan Caine—chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—later said the U.S. will continue to pursue military objectives, adding that airstrikes will be launched deeper into Iranian territory.

“These weapons are bespokely designed to get through concrete and/or rocks and function after penetrating those barriers,” he said.

“We continue to hunt and kill mine storage facilities and naval ammunition depots. We continue to hunt and kill afloat assets, including more than 120 vessels and 44 minelayers, and the pressure will continue.”

Meanwhile, following a previous report from The Introspective detailing the federalization of Washington, D.C., the Pentagon plans to keep the National Guard in the nation’s capital until 2029.

“There are no announcements to make at this time,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson in a statement obtained by The Introspective, adding that the Department of Defense is “committed to supporting the President’s mission to address the epidemic of crime in our Nation’s capital.”

This comes as nearly 3,000 troops are currently deployed in the nation’s capital.

Immigration and Education

As anti-immigrant sentiment continues, Trump announced that ICE agents will be placed throughout airports as the government shutdown continues.

“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the radical left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard-line criminals who have entered our country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” he wrote on Truth Social.

This comes as an NPR report detailed ICE agents taking DNA samples from protesters who have been arrested over the past year, highlighting the January arrest of Ben, a Minneapolis man who was tackled by agents and had his cheeks swabbed with a Q-tip.

“It was super casual,” said Ben.
“It was just like, ‘Okay, yeah, so we’re going to take this now.’”

Ben later said he went to the hospital, where doctors found three broken ribs from “blunt chest trauma.”

“I don’t really have the words for it,” he said.
“It’s just not something that should have ever happened.”

Meanwhile, as Trump’s initiative to downsize the federal government continues, the administration transferred federal student loan responsibility to the Treasury Department.

“The Federal Student Assistance Partnership marks an intentional and historic step toward breaking up the federal education bureaucracy and dramatically improving the administration of federal student aid programs that millions of American students, families and borrowers rely on to access higher education,” said Education Secretary Lina McMahon in a press release.

“By leveraging Treasury’s world-renowned expertise in finance and economic policy, we are confident that American students, borrowers and taxpayers will finally have functioning programs after decades of mismanagement.”

This comes as 40 million people hold federal student loans.