Red states send National Guard troops to DC after Trump order

Four Republican-led states are deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., following President Donald Trump’s executive order to address crime in the capital.

Mississippi, West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio have announced deployments after Trump ordered a federal takeover of city law enforcement last week.

About 800 National Guard troops are already in the city, rotating in shifts of 200, according to the Defense Department. The new reinforcements include 300 to 400 troops from West Virginia, 200 from South Carolina, 150 from Ohio and 200 from Mississippi.

“I’ve approved the deployment of approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard soldiers to Washington, D.C., to support President Trump’s effort to return law and order to our nation’s capital,” Gov. Tate Reeves posted Monday. “Americans deserve a safe capital city that we can all be proud of.”

Trump declared a “crime emergency” on Aug. 11 and assumed control of the Metropolitan Police Department under an executive order. A federal court questioned the extent of Trump’s authority but allowed Chief Pamela Smith to remain in place under a compromise.

The White House cited violent attacks on Republican congressional staffers and foreign embassy workers as part of its justification. Two Israeli embassy employees were murdered in May, a staffer for Kansas Rep. Ron Estes was shot and killed in June and a DOGE employee nicknamed “Big Balls” was savagely beaten in early August after intervening in an unarmed carjacking.

Although some D.C. officials have cited numbers showing crime is down, others have pointed out those numbers exclude several categories of violent crime. That and recent high-profile incidents have prompted the White House to act.

Trump, who launched a “Safe and Beautiful D.C.” task force in March, said the move mirrors his approach to border enforcement.

“Just like I took care of the border, where you had zero illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished capital, and we will make it, truly, great again,” he posted. “Before the tents, squalor, filth and crime, it was the most beautiful capital in the world. It will soon be that again.”