Elizabeth Warren

“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,” Warren told the Washington Examiner. “The National Guard are not pawns, and taxpayer dollars are not a piggy bank for Trump’s political stunts.”

Deploying National Guard troops to major cities has become one of the administration’s signature public safety initiatives. Trump has sent Guard personnel to Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Memphis, but the Washington deployment has become the largest and among the most visible. The force recently expanded to roughly 5,000 personnel.

The administration has pointed to declining crime rates in the District and a greater sense of security around areas such as Union Station as evidence that the deployment has been effective. Critics, however, argue that the mission has come at an enormous cost. The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that military deployments to U.S. cities cost nearly $500 million in 2025 alone, while public opinion on the deployments has largely broken along partisan lines.

NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN DC EXTENDED UNTIL 2029

The National Guard’s deployment has not been without danger. In November, two National Guard members were shot while on patrol just blocks from the White House. One later died from her injuries.