Three Republican-led states to deploy National Guard troops to US capital

WASHINGTON: The Republican governors of three states are deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., at the request of the administration of President Donald Trump, who has portrayed the city as awash in crime.

The announcements on Saturday of troops from hundreds of miles away in West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio came a day after D.C. officials and the Trump administration negotiated a deal to keep Mayor Muriel Bowser’s appointed police chief, Pamela Smith, in charge of the police department after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit to block the federal takeover of the department.

Trump, a Republican, said this week he was deploying hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the Democratic-led city’s police department to curb what he depicted as a crime and homelessness emergency.

Justice Department data, however, showed violent crime in 2024 hit a 30-year low in Washington, a self-governing federal district under the jurisdiction of Congress.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey’s office said in a statement he was deploying 300 to 400 National Guard troops to D.C. in “a show of commitment to public safety and regional cooperation.” The statement said he also was providing equipment and specialized training.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster responded to a Pentagon request by announcing that 200 of his state’s National Guard troops would be sent.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he would send 150 military police members in the coming days, adding none of them were “currently serving as law enforcement officers in the state.”

After the announcements, Mayor Bowser posted on X: “American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is #UnAmerican.”

The National Guard serves as a militia that answers to the governors of the 50 states except when called into federal service. The D.C. National Guard reports directly to the president.

Trump, who has suggested he could take similar actions in other Democratic-controlled cities, has sought to expand the powers of the presidency in his second term, inserting himself into the affairs of major banks, law firms and elite universities.

In June, Trump ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, against the wishes of California’s Democratic governor, during protests over mass immigration raids by federal officials.