Residents and local officials still question why troops remain
One year after President Donald Trump announced a crime emergency in Washington and deployed the National Guard, troops remain on the streets of the nation’s capital, and the mission has been extended through January 2029.
Trump made the announcement 12 months ago, pledging to make the city “safe and beautiful.” The mission, which seemed temporary at the time, has instead become a years-long presence in the city.
Residents and a new cadre of local officials see the deployment as an unacceptable attempt by the federal government to restrict the autonomy of the heavily Democratic city. A year in, they still question why having troops on the streets of the nation’s capital is necessary.
“There’s a deep irony that here we are in the capital of the free world, and our president is treating it like a police state,” said Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia.
Michelman said D.C. residents “have lived with our National Guard troops in our neighborhoods for about a year, despite the absence of any genuine emergency and really any reason for them to be here.”
The extension through January 2029 means the deployment will remain in place for years to come, even as residents, local officials, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia continue to question why the troops are necessary.