Troops suffered in silence as President Donald Trump gave orders for the National Guard to stay in Washington D.C. through December 2026! Trump said it’s to help stop violent crime, but I believe it’s simply to distract from the Epstein files which the Trump administration has refused to release despite Congress passing a law ordering the release of the files.
The DC National Guard reports directly to the President, not a governor. This is unique to D.C. — every state’s Guard answers to its governor. The President does not need the mayor’s permission to deploy the DC Guard. So legally, Trump had clear authority to deploy the DC National Guard.
Military rules dictate that force should be used as a last resort in response to immediate crime and threat. Trump claimed they are also supposed to keep the safety of residents’ and their well-being under watch, but local D.C residents feel differently. Most view it as unwelcoming and redundant. It makes them feel “unsafe” said James Downie, a MSNBC editor. “This deployment blurs the line between military and police, potentially infringing the First and Fourth Amendments.”
I argue that President Trump violated the Constitution when he authorized the troops use of their weapons for self-protection and as a “last resort” in response to threats, according to the Joint Task Force DC/Department of Defense. Trump said he believes this will solve crime and homelessness in our nation’s capital, yet the facts declare otherwise.
D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George stated, “If you are an immigrant in our community, they are not questioning whether you are documented, whether you have papers.” Troops are going in neighborhoods that rarely are kept up with. “They are literally going up to anyone in our neighborhoods and communities and taking them.”
According to the Public Broadcasting System, “crime rates in Washington, D.C. — including homicides and violent crime — had been falling through 2024 and continued a multiyear decline before and after August 2025,” when Trump sent troops into Washington.
While Trump needs Congress to agree to his takeover of the Washington D.C. police force, he is within the law to keep the National Guard there if he chooses. I believe the best outcome is for the troops to return home, and I believe the courts will agree with me after the legal arguments end.
