GOP-Controlled States Send National Guard Troops To DC

Three Republican-controlled states are deploying hundreds of National Guard personnel to Washington D.C. in order to support the Trump Administration’s takeover of the city’s police department.

West Virginia said it was deploying between 300 and 400 National Guard troops, while South Carolina has pledged 200. Ohio will also be sending about 150 troops, marking a significant escalation in the Trump Administration’s effort to combat crime in the nation’s capital.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he directed 300 to 400 Guard troops to head to Washington, adding that the state “is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” the Associated Press reported. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster stated that roughly 200 troops will be deployed at the request of the Pentagon, though he noted that they will be recalled if the state is struck by a serious natural disaster or other emergency that will require National Guard assistance.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he will be sending roughly 200 troops to “carry out presence patrols and serve as added security,” adding that they will be arriving in the next few days. According to the governor, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll requested the troops.

President Donald Trump directed a plethora of federal bureaucracies to assist in restoring law and order to D.C. streets that in recent weeks have seen the murder of a congressional intern and the assault of a notable employee at the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency. Over 800 members of the National Guard have been brought in to assist, in addition to the troops sent from the three aforementioned states.

National Guard troops have conducted patrols around some of the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods over the lasts several days, as well as the National Mall.

While the Guard has largely provided support, federal agents from a number of agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, have been deployed to conduct arrests and assist the D.C. Metropolitan Police with routine duties.

CNN’s Gabe Cohen, a noted Trump critic, conceded Friday that Trump’s decision has already had an effect on the city’s safety.

Standing outside Union Station, Cohen told “CNN News Central” guest co-host Jessica Dean that the number of vagrants “hanging around” has gone down since Trump’s initiative was unveiled Monday.

“This is one of the areas of focus that we have heard a lot of concerns about, crime around Union Station, people who are loitering outside,” Cohen told Dean. “I will tell you, as somebody who walks this route all the time, it does seem like there are fewer people just sort of hanging around, but we don’t know exactly what that is.”

Washington D.C. has consistently ranked in the top 10 in homicide rates among America’s major cities in recent years.

In 2024, Washington, D.C. saw a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents. That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country — nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.

If Washington D.C. were a state, it would have the homicide homicide rate in the country.