10
Loading video...
By Hannah Parry
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump’s decision to keep National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C., through the end of his second term is expected to cost taxpayers another $1.4 billion, according to a new report.
The estimate, based on information provided to Congress and reviewed by The Washington Post, covers the period from October 2026 through January 2029 and represents the most extensive accounting yet of the administration’s unprecedented use of military personnel in the nation’s capital.
The projected cost comes as Trump continues to defend the deployment as a key factor behind a dramatic decline in crime across Washington. In his State of the Union address on February 24, the president said "crime in Washington is now at the lowest level ever recorded.”
Read More on Politics
The administration has pointed to falling homicide rates and other crime statistics as evidence that its public safety strategy is working, while critics argue the expensive operation is unnecessary and question whether the National Guard is responsible for the decline.
The cost estimate was provided to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, by Jules Hurst III, Trump’s nominee for Pentagon comptroller, as part of his confirmation process.
Newsweek has reached out to D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department and Mayor Muriel Bowser for comment.
...
The administration first deployed National Guard personnel to Washington in August 2025 following the attempted carjacking and assault of Edward Coristine, a former staffer with Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service initiative.
The mission is expected to continue until January 2029 or until Trump determines that it is no longer needed, according to Brigadier General Leland Blanchard II, interim commanding general of the D.C. National Guard.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Washington deployment cost approximately $223 million through the end of 2025, with each additional month expected to cost about $55 million.
The $1.4 billion estimate assumes an average deployment of roughly 2,500 Guard personnel. The current number, which is nearly double that at 4,600 service members, is inflated due to several national events in Washington including celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The deployment has become a major political flashpoint. Democrats and civil liberties advocates have criticized the use of military personnel for domestic operations, arguing that the mission represents an unnecessary expansion of federal authority and an inefficient use of taxpayer money.
The Trump administration has requested additional funding for domestic military operations as part of broader defense and emergency spending requests, including money to support the National Guard mission in Washington.
Defense officials have defended the deployment, arguing that troops are providing valuable support beyond traditional law enforcement duties. Blanchard said Guard members have responded to roughly 800 medical emergencies, including performing CPR, treating gunshot victims and administering hundreds of doses of Narcan to people experiencing opioid overdoses.
Troops have also been assigned a range of public support duties, including security at federal landmarks and assisting with cleanup efforts around the city.
The central question now is whether the continued deployment is driving Washington’s crime decline—or whether troops are remaining in place as the city’s crime numbers improve.
Crime in DC: Stats Show Declining Levels
During remarks in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump highlighted falling crime rates and argued that federal intervention helped restore safety in the capital. The White House has pointed to major declines in violent crime, including a significant reduction in homicides, as evidence that its law-and-order agenda is delivering results.
Crime in Washington has indeed fallen sharply from recent highs. After a spike in violent crime following the pandemic, the district has experienced major declines in homicide and other violent offenses.
However, crime experts caution that falling crime numbers do not automatically prove that one specific policy or intervention caused the decline.
Public safety trends are influenced by multiple factors, including police staffing, enforcement strategies, court policies, economic conditions and broader national crime patterns.
Homicides alone have plummeted in D.C. from a post-COVID peak of 226 in 2021 to slightly more than half that figure in 2025, which saw 127, according to Washington Metropolitan Police Department figures.
Violent crime in general has also been falling, dropping by 1,000 from 2024 to 2025, from 3,475 to 2,475.
Why Is Trump Spending More on the National Guard?
The National Guard deployment began as part of Trump’s push to address crime and public safety concerns in Washington. The president has repeatedly argued that maintaining a visible federal presence is necessary to keep Washington safe.
The White House has credited the administration’s increased law enforcement presence with helping drive crime downward, arguing that federal involvement has made the city safer.
...
Critics argue the spending raises questions about whether the deployment is necessary when crime has already declined significantly.
Warren criticized the decision to increase spending on the Guard, writing on X that while families are dealing with rising expenses, the administration is spending billions to keep troops on Washington streets.
“The National Guard are not pawns, and taxpayer dollars are not a piggy bank for Trump’s political stunts,” Warren wrote.
Did the National Guard Cause Crime to Fall?
The central debate over the deployment is not whether crime has declined in Washington—official data shows a significant drop—but whether the National Guard presence was responsible for that improvement. Unlike traditional police officers, Guard troops are generally not responsible for conducting criminal investigations or replacing local law enforcement. Their role has focused on supporting public safety operations, assisting law enforcement and providing additional personnel for city operations.
The Trump administration says the deployment has been a major factor in making the capital safer. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Guard members stationed in Washington, saying their presence had reduced crime by “staggering amounts.”
While Trump said during Oval Office remarks in February that “We have a very safe city right now. We have a city that is like a different world from what it was a year and a half ago,” critics and crime researchers argue the picture is more complicated. A Niskanen Center analysis found that the National Guard deployment was associated with a decline in some opportunistic property crimes, but researchers found no measurable impact on violent crime.
The Council on Criminal Justice has also noted that Washington’s crime decline followed a broader national trend, with violence falling in many major U.S. cities during the same period.
Bowser has questioned whether the federal response matched the city’s actual crime situation, saying of the deployment, “It doesn’t make sense.”
The disagreement comes down to causation: Supporters argue a visible security presence can deter crime and provide additional support to police, while critics say the available evidence does not show that the National Guard deployment itself drove the decline.
Warren also criticized the projected $1.4 billion cost of extending the National Guard's presence in D.C., writing on X, “While American families are getting flattened by skyrocketing costs, Donald Trump is spending $1.4 billion to keep troops on the streets in Washington for years on end."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Edward T. Cummins.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines