U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the National Guard to be sent to the capital, Washington D.C.
Trump has claimed there is “crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor” in the city. This is despite crime rates falling.
D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has described the deployment as “unsettling and unprecedented”.
Here’s what you need to know.
National Guard
The U.S. National Guard is a reserve military force with 430,000 civilian troops.
It is generally deployed to address national emergencies, such as during COVID-19 and natural disasters.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has ordered more National Guard troops to be stationed at the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
He also deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles to curb anti-government protests.
Trump's order
Trump has ordered 800 members of the National Guard to Washington D.C, in a move he said would “help re-establish law, order, and public safety”.
He claimed the city has been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth… and homeless people”.
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The White House released data appearing to show a rise in crime rates. D.C. authorities contested the figures, pointing to data showing a 30-year low in the national capital.
Official figures from D.C’s Metropolitan Police show homicides increased from 2021 to 2023, but have since dropped.
Year-on-year violent crime statistics show a 26% drop from August 2024 to 2025.
Nearly all other categories of crime, including sexual abuse, robbery, and burglary, have also declined.
How long?
Trump has declared a crime emergency in D.C, which gives the President the power to override local police without needing extra approvals.
Since D.C. isn’t a state, the measure doesn’t require consent from local authorities.
Trump can control the local police for 30 days before Congress is required to extend the deployment. Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, making it easier for Trump to seek an extension.
Reaction
The governing authority – the Council of the District of Columbia – called Trump’s measure a “manufactured intrusion on local authority”.
“Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission,” the council said in a statement.
DC’s Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters: “While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we’re totally surprised”.
