Washington, D.C. – The Pentagon said on Thursday that all 800 Army and Air National Guard personnel that President Donald Trump sent to the nation’s capital are now fully deployed. The Trump administration has called this deployment the latest step in a “criminal emergency” in Washington, D.C.
Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said that the National Guard will help the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement with a number of tasks, such as “monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities and officers,” and traffic management. Wilson also said that the troops will be deployed “until the president decides that law and order has been restored in the District.”
Crime Stats Are the Main Point of the Debate
The government takeover and the deployment of the National Guard have led to a debate about how bad crime really is in the District. Critics have used data from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to back up their claims that the Trump administration has pointed to high rates of certain crimes.
The White House says that in 2024, the city’s murder rate was 27.3 per 100,000 people. This number is used to compare the city to others to show that there is a public safety concern. The same report says that carjackings in Washington, D.C., went up by 547% from 2018 to 2023.
But data from the U.S. Department of Justice and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department shows a more complicated picture. In 2024, violent crime in the city dropped by 35% from 2023, hitting its lowest level in more than 30 years. Compared to the year before, there were 32% fewer murders, 39% fewer robberies, and 53% fewer armed carjackings in 2024. As of early August 2025, the number of killings has continued to go down. So far this year, there have been 99 homicides, compared to 112 during the same time last year.
Historical Background and Arrests
This is the first occasion since 1965 that a US president has sent the National Guard into a state without the governor’s permission. In Washington, D.C., the National Guard reports directly to the president. In other states, the governor is in charge.
The White House said that 45 people were arrested in Washington on Wednesday night, and 29 of those persons were living in the nation without permission. More than 1,650 personnel are now taking part in the law enforcement operation. The National Guard can hold people for a short time, but they can’t arrest them. That power belongs to the police and other federal law enforcement organizations.