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Troops in D.C.
President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., beginning last August, and the city has now entered its second year with federal troops patrolling streets and public-transit as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.
“will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion”
The Atlantic reported that the Pentagon says it plans to keep the Guard in D.C. through January 2029, a plan that “will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion,” while the same article described troops wandering around unaccompanied and sometimes trailing federal officers from agencies such as the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.
In El País, a protest marked the first anniversary of Trump’s announcement to deploy National Guard troops to the capital to “free the city” from homelessness and crime, and the article said violent crimes in the U.S. capital fell by 35% in 2024 according to Metropolitan Police data.
El País also put the deployment in a broader political context, saying Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and used the attempted carjacking of Edward Coristine as “the perfect excuse” to announce mobilization of the army in Washington.
NPR added that one guard member told the outlet, “the bad taste that this mission left in my mouth, it actually embarrasses me to be involved in any way,” as the deployment entered its second year and was extended to the end of Trump’s term.
Competing claims
The Atlantic described the administration’s framing of the deployment as success, quoting Trump’s Truth Social post that “Washington D.C. went from High Crime to NO CRIME — Thank you President Trump!” while it also cited analyses finding no measurable effect on violent crime.
El País reported that 79% of the capital’s residents reject the measure, and it quoted Benjamin Zinevich Rodríguez explaining that his group, the Socialist Party and Liberation, wants Washington to achieve statehood to gain more powers.
NPR said members of the Guard described worries about “the abuses of the National Guard in this D.C. mission,” and one guard member told the outlet, “I don't want to think about the National Guard. I don't want to necessarily discuss my affiliation with the National Guard.”
The Atlantic also described how troops have limited law-enforcement authority, noting that their appointment terms state they cannot independently conduct searches or make arrests, though they can detain suspected lawbreakers until local or federal law enforcement arrives.
In Telemundo Tampa (49), Trump threatened to sue the Center for American Progress unless it retracts a report saying the National Guard deployments did not reduce crime, and the outlet reported that the center refused and that Neera Tanden said the lawsuit “is an obvious attempt to silence us.”
Costs, controls, and next moves
El País said about 4,500 soldiers patrol Washington compared to 3,800 Metropolitan Police officers, and it described spending figures from a Niskanen Center study that calculated the government spends $607 (€519) per soldier per day versus $384 for a police officer.
“about 4,500 soldiers patrol Washington”
The Atlantic reported that troops have been sworn in as deputy U.S. marshals but cannot independently conduct searches or make arrests, and it said Reuters analysis found troops were mentioned in only 1.3 percent of criminal cases prosecuted in D.C. Superior Court over the past year.
NPR reported that the guard member who spoke to the outlet said, “Now, with it being a year, it's hard to feel like that justification holds any water,” and another member said it feels more like a political stunt, including patrol orders around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool following its faulty renovation.
El País also described the White House order to keep troops on the streets until the end of Trump’s term in January 2029, and it said the decision was estimated to cost $1.4 billion, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated the deployment cost $225 million in 2025 and that each additional month would add $55 million.
In Telemundo Tampa (49), Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito demanded the Center for American Progress “retract immediately the false, malicious, and defamatory statements made about President Trump,” and the outlet reported that Brito said Trump would seek damages for “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” if there is no retraction.