West Virginia National Guard troops have begun to reach in Washington, DC, to help with President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, a protection official informed NCS on Tuesday.
The troops might begin aiding the DC National Guard operationally as quickly as Wednesday after they’ve accomplished their in-processing, the protection official added.
Their arrival comes after the Republican governors of six states — West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee — introduced they will send guard members to Washington, DC.
The deployment of different states’ troops marks an escalation of Trump’s efforts to amass forces in the capital. The president beforehand introduced that he was deploying DC National Guard troops to town, surging federal brokers into the streets, and federalizing DC’s police pressure. The president has repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, however general crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024.
The protection official mentioned Tuesday that whereas there are roughly 2,400 personnel in the DC National Guard, help from different states was wanted as a result of of what number of troops are both present process coaching elsewhere or are on depart.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry mentioned Monday he permitted about 135 National Guard troops to DC, whereas Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves introduced he would deploy roughly 200 members.
Tennessee will ship roughly 160 guard members to town this week following a request from the Trump administration, Gov. Bill Lee’s press secretary mentioned in a Tuesday assertion to NCS.
Over the weekend, West Virginia’s governor mentioned his state was sending 300 to 400 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital. South Carolina licensed the deployment of 200 troops, and Ohio mentioned it is going to ship 150.
When requested on Monday how she feels concerning the extra states’ troops, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser mentioned, “We don’t have any authority over the DC Guard or any other guards.” The president has energy over the DC National Guard.
“But I think it kind of makes the point that this is not about DC crime,” the Democratic mayor mentioned.
The protection official mentioned the National Guard is working at 10 Metrorail stations in town. They usually are not carrying firearms and haven’t been requested to take action, the official added. As of Monday morning, 896 DC troopers and airmen had been mobilized on the mission.
Asked whether or not they are going to deploy to high-crime areas of the capital, the protection official mentioned, “That’s not the request” and that it could be extra the main focus of regulation enforcement, not the National Guard.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the federal regulation enforcement operation is “working,” highlighting 52 arrests Tuesday night time, the same determine to the number of average adult arrests per day in Washington, DC, in 2024. Leavitt added that “a significant number of the arrests have been in high-crime areas of DC.”
As Trump’s crackdown on crime escalates, a minimum of one Republican governor has refused to ship National Guard troops from his state to the nation’s capital. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott “declined to consider a request to deploy the Vermont National Guard for law enforcement activities in Washington, D.C.,” his workplace mentioned in an announcement.
“While Public safety is a legitimate concern in cities across the country, in the absence of an immediate disaster and unless local and regional first responders are unable to handle such an emergency, the Governor is opposed to utilizing the National Guard for this purpose and does not view the enforcement of domestic law as proper use of the National Guard,” the assertion mentioned.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas, criticized the GOP governors who despatched troops, saying in an announcement, “I implore my colleagues from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and every other state to reject the temptation to use their soldiers to reinforce a dangerous, politically motivated agenda.”
NCS’s Shania Shelton and Jenna Monnin contributed to this report.