On a sweltering August day in 2025, convoys of National Guard vehicles rolled into Washington, D.C., their arrival marking a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump’s controversial federal intervention in the nation’s capital. By the week’s end, nearly 9,000 uniformed personnel—including police, federal agents, and National Guard troops from at least six Republican-led states—had established a visible, and at times tense, presence on the city’s streets. The stated goal: to combat what the Trump administration has called a “crime emergency” in D.C. and to restore order to a city it claims is plagued by lawlessness and homelessness.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves was among the first to publicly endorse the deployment, announcing on August 18 that approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard soldiers would be dispatched to Washington. “Crime is out of control there, and it’s clear something must be done to combat it,” Reeves said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Mississippi’s commitment joined similar pledges from West Virginia (300 to 400 troops), South Carolina (200), Ohio (150), Louisiana (135), and Tennessee (160), according to CNN and other outlets. The deployments, federally funded and coordinated at the White House’s request, were described by state officials as “mission-essential” and intended to provide a “visible presence to deter crime.”
President Trump’s executive order, issued days before the troop arrivals, declared a “crime emergency” in the District of Columbia and initiated a federal takeover of the city’s police department. The order also mandated that local police cooperate with federal immigration enforcement—a move in direct conflict with D.C.’s local laws, which explicitly prohibit such collaboration. Trump, in a characteristically forceful social media post, declared, “D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs. The White House is in charge. The Military and our Great Police will liberate this City, scrape away the filth, and make it safe, clean, habitable and beautiful once more!”
Yet, the federal intervention has not been universally welcomed. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, was blunt in her assessment: “We don’t have any authority over the DC Guard or any other Guards. But I think it kind of makes the point that this is not about DC crime.” On her personal social media account, Bowser went further, writing, “American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is #UnAmerican.”
Protests erupted almost immediately. On August 16, hundreds of residents and activists marched from Dupont Circle to the White House, chanting slogans and confronting National Guard troops stationed near the city’s landmarks. Inside Union Station, the arrival of Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to greet the troops was met with chants of “Free DC, Free DC.” Miller lashed out at the demonstrators, labeling them “crazy communists” and accusing them of wanting to “destroy a great American city.” According to CNN, the protests were largely peaceful, though tensions ran high as police formed barricades and some protesters shouted profanities at law enforcement.
The scale of the operation has raised eyebrows nationwide. According to detailed reporting by CNN and others, the combined force now patrolling the city includes 3,200 Metropolitan Police, 2,300 Capitol Police, 1,200 state National Guard troops, 800 D.C. National Guard, 472 transit police, 350 National Park Police, and at least 500 additional federal agents from agencies such as the FBI and ICE. The National Guard’s duties have thus far included crowd control, patrolling landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station, and supporting federal agents in high-visibility “presence patrols.”
Trump’s “beautify the city” initiative has also targeted homeless encampments. Beginning August 13, federal agents began removing more than 25 encampments, with the White House stating that those displaced would be sent to shelters—or to jail if they refused to leave. Advocates for the homeless community have called the sweeps “unlawful, counterproductive and costly,” arguing that they disrupt ongoing efforts to move people into permanent housing.
Despite the administration’s claims that violent crime in D.C. justified the intervention, data cited by CNN indicates that overall crime numbers in the city were actually lower in 2025 than in the previous year. Critics have pointed out the irony that some states sending troops—most notably Mississippi—have their own pressing crime problems at home. As one report highlighted, Mississippi’s capital city currently has one of the highest murder rates in the country.
Inside the capital, reactions have been split along familiar political lines. Trump’s allies, including West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, have cast the operation as a necessary assertion of federal authority and a step toward a “strong and secure America.” Morrisey stated, “We are deploying 300-400 skilled personnel to the nation’s capital, reflecting our commitment to a strong and secure America.” South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster emphasized that the federal government would cover the costs, but also noted that if a natural disaster struck his state, the troops could be “immediately recalled home.”
Opponents, meanwhile, have decried what they see as an overreach of executive power and a breach of democratic norms. D.C. Councilmember Robert White told CNN that “President Trump is breaching democratic norms,” and described the deployment as a “power grab.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move a “political ploy” and an “attempted distraction from Trump’s other scandals.” Maryland Governor Wes Moore dismissed the intervention as “performative and nothing more.”
Polls suggest that a majority of D.C. residents are uneasy with the military presence, with many reporting that they feel less safe with so many armed personnel on the streets. Some have drawn historical parallels, noting that much of the National Guard force comes from states that once formed the Confederacy, and that Trump’s rhetoric—particularly his attacks on institutions like the Smithsonian for their portrayal of American history—echoes the most divisive chapters of the nation’s past.
As for the duration of the federal occupation, Vice President Vance made clear that it could last indefinitely. When pressed about the 30-day legal limit set by the 1973 DC Home Rule Act, Vance replied, “We’ll ultimately let the President of the United States determine where we are after 30 days of this emergency order … if the President of the United States thinks that he has to extend this order to ensure that people have access to public safety, then that’s exactly what he’ll do.”
For now, Washington remains under an unprecedented level of federal control, its streets watched over by thousands of troops and agents. Whether the intervention will restore order, deepen divisions, or simply become the new normal is a question that weighs heavily on the city—and the nation—as the days pass.
