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The Washington, D.C., National Guard will remain deployed in the nation’s capital through at least the end of February under new orders from the Trump administration, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
The formal order, dated Nov. 4, extends an earlier August 11 directive and authorizes Guard members to stay in the city through Feb. 28. The document cites an emergency declared by President Donald Trump and instructions from the “Secretary of War to protect federal property and functions in the District of Columbia and to support federal and District law enforcement.”
Hundreds of Guard troops have been stationed in Washington since August, part of what Trump described as a sweeping crime-fighting initiative that also placed the city’s Metropolitan Police Department under temporary federal control. That takeover expired in September, but roughly 2,000 Guard members from the D.C. Guard and at least eight states remain in the capital, with most state contingents expecting to withdraw by late November.
The D.C. National Guard makes up the largest share of the deployment, contributing 949 soldiers to a task force totaling 2,375 troops. West Virginia follows with 416, according to figures reviewed by the AP.
While some Guard members have patrolled public areas — including parks, subway stations, and Union Station — task force reports suggest much of their time has been spent on cleanup and maintenance projects. An October update boasted of clearing more than 1,100 bags of trash, spreading 1,045 cubic yards of mulch, removing 50 truckloads of plant waste, clearing 7.9 miles of roadway, painting 270 feet of fencing and pruning 400 trees. More recent briefings have largely focused on troop levels rather than daily activity.
Some units have also participated in neighborhood beautification projects at the request of local officials.
The deployment remains the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed Sept. 4 by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who argues that the Trump administration has unlawfully occupied the city with federal troops. The suit has drawn filings from 45 states — 23 supporting Trump’s position and 22 siding with Washington. The administration contends that Trump, as commander of the D.C. Guard, has full legal authority to deploy it as he sees fit.
In court documents filed last month, Schwalb’s office warned that the Guard could remain in Washington through next summer. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, heard arguments Oct. 24 but has yet to issue a ruling.
It remains unclear how long out-of-state Guard units — from Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama — will stay in Washington. Officials in several of those states told the AP they expect to end their deployments by Nov. 30, though some said they would comply if their orders were extended. The latest federal directive applies only to the D.C. Guard.
