Three United States have announced plans to send hundreds of national guard troops to Washington DC as part of the Trump administration’s effort to tighten federal control over policing in the capital.
West Virginia confirmed it would deploy between 300 and 400 personnel, South Carolina pledged 200, and Ohio said it would send 150 in the coming days. The deployments were announced on Saturday, following President Donald Trump’s executive order federalising the city’s police force and activating about 800 members of the District of Columbia national guard.
West Virginia governor Patrick Morrisey’s office said the move represented “a show of commitment to public safety and regional cooperation” and would include equipment and skilled personnel “as directed”.
The order came after Trump temporarily took control of the city’s police department, directing DC national guard troops to mount a show of force in what he described as a response to crime and homelessness in the capital. However, official data shows violent crime has fallen to a 30-year low and declined a further 26% since Trump returned to office in January.
Last weekend, Trump ordered the city’s homeless residents to leave or face forcible removal after his motorcade passed encampments en route to his golf course. Local officials subsequently cleared one of the sites, arguing they could act more humanely than untrained federal personnel.
An attempt by the justice department to replace Washington’s police chief, Pamela Smith, with the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, was challenged in federal court by the DC attorney general, Brian Schwalb. While US district judge Ana Reyes did not issue a direct ruling, she indicated that Smith must remain in charge.
Federal efforts to assert control resumed on Saturday with the order to deploy West Virginia’s national guard. A spokesperson for the governor confirmed the state received instructions late on Friday and was preparing its deployment.
A White House official told Reuters that additional troops were being sent to “protect federal assets, create a safe environment for law enforcement officials to carry out their duties when required, and provide a visible presence to deter crime”.
The Chamberlain Network, a veterans’ group, criticised the move, saying: “They should be home, ready to respond, not on a political policing mission.”
Guard assigned authority
Since their arrival last week, the 800 DC national guard troops under Trump’s authority have been assigned to administrative duties, public patrols, and “area beautification” work. The US army said weapons would remain in the armoury unless needed.
The White House confirmed the troops are patrolling the national mall and Union Station but are not making arrests.
Trump has signalled he may take similar measures in other Democratic-run cities. A federal court in San Francisco is due to rule in the coming weeks on whether his earlier decision to deploy national guard troops to Los Angeles without the consent of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was lawful.
