For over a week, the sidewalks and streets of our nation’s capital city have been crowded with more than the usual tourists or government motorcades, but rather with troops of the Washington, D.C. National Guard. Eight hundred of them, to be precise, with between 100 and 200 on patrol at any given time, some of them armed. Their presence in the city began with a March 11th press conference during which President Donald Trump announced he was invoking Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, thereby placing the city’s police department under federal control, and the guard deployment.
And that’s on top of the roughly 500 agents from a variety of federal law enforcement agencies already deployed to D.C. While the National Guard personnel will not participate in official law enforcement duties or carry out any arrests, they currently patrol the city and its various landmarks as potential deterrents to crime.
Since the enactment of these measures, the troops and agents have spent days and nights combating a supposed surge in crime (which evidence does not support) claimed by the White House and in forcibly removing homeless persons and their camps. The operation so far has resulted in hundreds of arrests, the raiding and demolishing of several homeless camps, and one minor traffic accident when a guard Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle (MATV) crashed into a civilian vehicle.
All of which has led to large protests, criticism from numerous officials, some fairly intense heckling, and at least one assault-by-sandwich. And things seem unlikely to calm down as hundreds, if not thousands, more National Guard troops will soon patrol the city.
But unlike those walking the streets right now, they won’t be locals. In an unprecedented move six (so far) Republican governors have pledged to deploy troops of their own to D.C.
What Led to National Guard Troops in D.C.
While many have drawn comparisons between this deployment of federal troops to an American city to the president sending National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in June, there are some key differences.
While the L.A. situation came as a result of protests against large-scale immigration operations, the D.C. campaign arose from President Trump’s repeatedly expressed desire to take control of the city in order to fight crime. And the assault and attempted carjacking of a federal employee (the already mildly infamous former DOGE staffer currently working for the Social Security Administration Edward Coristine, often referred to by his nickname: “Big Balls”) on August 5th is widely seen as a key reason for Trump deploying federal agents to D.C. on the 8th before federalizing the local police and sending in the troops three days after that.
All of this has happened in spite of the fact that the crime rate in the District, according to the Department of Justice earlier this year, is the lowest it’s been in 30 years. Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Force data shows a drop in overall crime in the city of 7% and a drop of 27% in violent crimes in particular since last year.
In fact, the only category of crime that saw any rise at all between 2024 and 2025 was arson which jumped up 33% (which seems like a massive surge in fires, until you learn that means an increase from three to four). Though the DOJ is now reportedly investigating those statistics in the belief that they are manipulated to make crime rates in the city appear lower.
Which States Are Sending National Guard Troops to D.C.?
As of August 20th, six Republican governors have announced the deployment of National Guard troops from their states to Washington:
- Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, who pledged to send 135 troops to D.C.
- Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi, who sent “approximately” 200.
- Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio, whose 150 guard troops arrived August 20th.
- Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina is sending 200 sometime early next week.
- Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee plans to send 160 troops.
- Governor Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, who sent 400 troops to the city on August 19th.
Outcry against the deployment of these forces from outside D.C. has become another sticking point in the ongoing opposition to President Trump’s actions to combat crime and homelessness in the city.
And many critics and news outlets have pointed out that cities in all six of the states sending troops have higher rates of violent crime than Washington, including Jackson, Mississippi which has the highest homicide rate in the country.
What Could Happen Next
While the D.C. Home Rule Act limits any presidential takeover of local law enforcement to 30 days before Congressional approval is required for it to continue, there are no such stipulations regarding the deployment of the National Guard in this scenario.
Legally speaking, the troops could remain deployed throughout the city indefinitely so long as their activities don’t violate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the military from enforcing federal law in the US.
But given the negative public opinion, that the White House already lost one lawsuit related to his D.C. crackdown, and the simple fact that the nascent hurricane season will certainly force some of the troops to return home to assist in rescue and disaster relief operations, it’s unlikely the presence of National Guard troops will remain in Washington until the end of Trump’s term.
UPDATE: Developments Since August 21st, 2025
In the weeks since the initial deployment of the D.C. National Guard to Washington and the later deployments of contingents have continued without any major incidents or events other than the ones described above. But there have been a number of changes to the status and activities of the troops currently operating in the nation’s capital city.
While most of the actual law enforcement operations part of the White House’s ongoing initiative are still carried out only by local and federal law enforcement agencies, the roughly 2,300 soldiers and airmen from the National Guards of D.C., Tennessee, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Ohio continue to patrol parts of the city (including Union Station, which the Department of Transportation is taking took control of) and assist personnel from those agencies.
While some of those troops are armed with their service pistols and/or carbines in order to support so-called “safety and security” functions, others have taken on other tasks. Specifically, what the Trump administration is calling “beautification” projects. These include tasks such as collecting trash, conducting surveys in order to begin a variety of restoration projects, and even spreading mulch around the city’s famed cherry trees.
President Trump has suggested he will keep these troops in place for up to six months, though an operation that lengthy would be rather costly. According to Retired Major General Randy Manner, a former vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, the cost of deploying around 2,000 guardsmen is around $20 million/month. Additionally, an August 25th executive order from President Trump ordered the creation of “a specialized unit within the District of Columbia National Guard… that is dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the Nation’s capital.”
Since the deployments began, Washington D.C. has seen a drop in violent crimes as well as other serious offenses like assault and car theft. But, as many commentators have pointed out, those decreases are reflective of the ongoing downward trend of crime rates in the district mentioned earlier in this article. Additionally, the presence of the National Guardsmen in the city has continued to provoke criticism from many, including governors and mayors who fear their own states and cities could see federal troops on their streets in the near future.
The citizens of D.C. aren’t all happy to have the soldiers and airmen around either, particularly those who reside in a neighborhood whose residents are predominantly immigrants both legal and undocumented. And a recent Reuters poll shows that less than 40% of Americans approve of the deployment of troops to police the city.
Despite all that, the deployment of the National Guard in D.C. will likely continue for some time. And it’s hard to predict what else may change or develop as the operation goes on. Case in point: the city has also recently launched a new PR campaign hoping to draw tourists to the city as they fear the soldiers and airmen on the streets may cause people to change their minds about visiting. But rest assured, we will keep updating this article as the situation develops.
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