National Guard deployment in Washington to be extended through Feb 2026: Report

The deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, DC will be extended through February 2026. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to continue the mobilisation of federal troops after the deployment expires in November, according to a report by CNN.

The deployment of troops in the US capital has been fighting a legal battle in the courts between the Trump administration and DC’s attorney general.

By Wednesday morning, 2,387 National Guard troops had been deployed in Washington, DC, with personnel coming from DC, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama. Their pay has been at risk due to the ongoing government shutdown, and the operation is costing about $1 million per day.

‘No crime in Washington’

Last month, Trump deployed 800-member troops of the National Guard in the capital city to bring down crime, in a move that was widely contested and is now expanding to other states.

Trump said, “There’s no crime. They said, ‘Crime’s down 87 per cent,’” Mr. Trump said Monday. “It’s more than 87 per cent — virtually nothing.”

The US capital city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, sued the federal government over the “illegal” takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and accused the Trump administration of “abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law.”

Meanwhile, Washington DC sought an emergency restraining order to block what it called a “hostile takeover” of its police department by Donald Trump.

National Guard in Chicago

Earlier this month, Texas National Guard troops made their way to Chicago, marking an escalation of Trump’s crackdown on the city.

Trump has already sent troops onto the streets of Los Angeles and Washington, DC and has ordered them to Memphis as well as Chicago and Portland, threatening to invoke emergency powers to forward such efforts if the courts get in the way.

With inputs from agencies