Trump Gives D.C. Troops New Muscle As Dems Plot National Guard Exit

President Donald Trump’s administration is expanding the National Guard’s presence in Washington, D.C., authorizing troops to use military vehicles, marked police cars, and boats to support law enforcement operations even as local Democrats move to push hundreds of out-of-state guardsmen out of the capital.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized the expanded equipment deployment in an October 29 memo obtained by Politico. The authorization allows National Guard members to use several dozen marked police vehicles, Humvees, light medium tactical vehicles, and boats through the end of the year.

The vehicles are intended to support law enforcement operations, including drug busts, but Guard members remain prohibited from pursuing suspects or making arrests. The boats will provide what the memo describes as “perimeter security” for police operations targeting suspected gang leaders and drug traffickers in the Anacostia area of Southeast Washington.

Hegseth directed that federal law enforcement officers “must always be on board” Guard vessels to handle arrests, including when suspects attempt to escape by jumping into the river. The memo also prohibits the boats from conducting surveillance on American citizens.

The authorization represents an expansion of the military’s operational role in the District, where Guard members have already been conducting patrols and assisting federal law enforcement. The administration has not publicly explained why it is adding the vehicles and boats now. The memo instead reiterates Trump’s effort to address the “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital.

The timing comes just days after the November 3 midterm elections, which handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress and victories in several states that currently have National Guard personnel deployed in Washington.

D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, a Democrat who chairs the Council’s public safety committee, announced Thursday that she intends to urge incoming Democratic governors in five states to withdraw their troops from the District as soon as they take office, according to The Washington Post.

Pinto said approximately 628 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington come from Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas — all states that elected Democratic governors this week.

“[A]fter Tuesday night, the tide is turning,” Pinto said during a Council hearing on the federal law enforcement and military presence in the city. “A tsunami of change is coming to our city.”

Pinto said she would send a letter urging the incoming governors to recall their states’ troops, arguing they could do so on their first day in office. Councilmember Elissa Silverman and former Councilmember Robert C. White Jr., the Democrat elected Tuesday as the District’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, supported the effort.

The incoming governors have not announced whether they intend to withdraw their National Guard personnel. It also remains unclear how the Trump administration would respond if states attempted to recall their troops.

The latest dispute comes as the District deployment faces mounting legal and political challenges. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has challenged the administration’s authority to deploy out-of-state National Guard units, arguing that the president exceeded his legal powers. A federal appeals court heard arguments in October, but has not set a deadline for a decision.

Trump first deployed National Guard troops to Washington in August 2025 after declaring a crime emergency. The mission has been extended repeatedly and is currently expected to continue through Inauguration Day 2029. Troop levels have fluctuated, reaching approximately 5,000 during the summer, with personnel drawn from 20 states and Puerto Rico.

The deployment carries a significant price tag. Defense Department officials told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in August that the operation was expected to cost taxpayers approximately $1.4 billion through the end of 2028.

The incoming Democratic governors’ decisions could create a new confrontation between state officials and the Trump administration over control of National Guard personnel.