A Year of National Guard in Washington: Safer or 'Occupied'?

Washington, DC – One year after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the U.S. capital, residents, politicians, and experts still hold mixed views on the mission.

Thousands of troops were sent to Washington in August 2025 under Trump's “Safe and Beautiful Task Force” after he declared a crime emergency in the city. The soldiers' presence immediately drew opposition, with protests continuing throughout the year. The advocacy group Free DC has organized 11 days of protests, culminating in a march outside the White House on Tuesday to denounce what they call a “hostile military occupation.”

Ybonne Coles, 60, a restaurant worker born and raised in the capital, said on a hot August day in Farragut Square as soldiers patrolled nearby: “I think Trump should send them home. They're not doing anything but walking around. That money should go to organizations helping people who really need it.”

The deployment has also faced legal challenges questioning its constitutionality. On September 4, Washington Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration, alleging the deployment unlawfully uses the military for law enforcement in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. District Judge Jia Cobb ordered an end to the deployment on November 20, but a federal appeals court later granted the administration's request to stay the ruling while the case proceeds.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has been blamed by the Trump administration for rising crime, also criticized the deployment's legality. “We use the Guard for emergencies. We use the Guard for large-scale events. We don't use the Guard to enforce local laws,” Bowser said at an October conference in Washington.

As the deployment nears its one-year mark, federal officials announced a “summer surge” plan with an additional 1,500 National Guard troops ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations.

“Peaceful and quiet”

Not everyone opposes the Guard's presence. Aaron Taslitz, 30, a teacher and bike courier in Washington, said that while he would prefer military resources be used for more urgent matters than patrolling the capital's streets, he feels safer with them around. “They've basically kept things peaceful and quiet here,” he said during a break in Dupont Circle.

Trump has frequently criticized Washington, calling it “one of the most unsafe cities in the world” and claiming crime has dropped 88% since the Guard arrived. However, the precise impact of the Guard's presence on crime in Washington remains unclear. A Niskanen Center report published in May found the deployment had no significant effect on violent crime, which had already been on a steady decline for years. While the report noted a notable drop in property crime, the soldiers' presence had limited impact on “opportunistic crimes.”

Richard Hahn, a co-author of the report, explained: “They're not trained police officers. The best a National Guard member can do, in terms of deterring crime, is to be a lookout.” The soldiers' patrol areas have also focused on high-traffic zones, including tourist hubs like the National Mall and Union Station. “Violent crime actually concentrates in specific areas of Washington,” Hahn said. “And those are places where, by and large, the Guard has not been deployed.”

Currently, 4,636 troops are deployed for the mission in Washington, including nearly 700 from the DC National Guard and thousands from other states, according to a Joint Task Force spokesperson. The largest contributors are Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Despite the large number of troops, local media have reported a notable absence of soldiers in areas east of the Anacostia River, where many neighborhoods have the highest violent crime rates in the city. Major General Leland D Blanchard II, the mission commander, said at a briefing on August 3 that patrol areas would be adjusted in the coming weeks but declined to provide details.

“Unnecessary use of force”

A Senate investigation and report by Senators Gary Peters and Andy Kim in February also expressed concerns that the deployment risks eroding local trust in law enforcement, politicizing the military, and reducing troops' combat readiness. The report also flagged threats to residents' privacy from Guard software tools, including social media monitoring systems Meltwater and Cision, and Palantir Technologies' Maven Smart System platform.

The National Guard has also faced multiple lawsuits since the deployment began in August last year. On July 29, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of former U.S. Army Captain Anna King after Idaho National Guard members arrested her roughly in May on allegations of assaulting an officer two days earlier. King denies the charges and believes she was targeted for speaking out against the Guard's presence in the city. Michael Perloff, King's attorney, said: “What you see here is a use of force that was aggressive, completely unnecessary, and disproportionate. It shows broader concerns about relying on the National Guard to patrol this area.”

While no official figure exists for the first-year cost of the campaign, the Senate Homeland Security Committee estimates annual spending could reach $602 million. In July, the Pentagon announced plans to keep the Guard in Washington through the end of Trump's term. According to estimates obtained by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the deployment would cost an additional $1.4 billion from October 2026 to January 2029.

A National Guard soldier from Indiana, deployed for several months of the mission in November and speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed mixed feelings about patrolling Washington's streets. “My time there was to help the people of Washington,” the soldier said, noting pride in serving. “Whoever they are, whatever they're doing – I was just there to help in any way I could. I saw people affected by us in positive ways.” However, there were moments of doubt, especially when morale dipped due to being away from family during the holidays. “Some days I wondered: 'What are we doing here? We're not really accomplishing anything.'”