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President Donald Trump’s ongoing deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion through January 2029, according to estimates provided during the Senate confirmation process for the Pentagon’s prospective chief financial officer.
The projection came from Jules Hurst III, Trump’s nominee to serve as the Defense Department’s comptroller, in written responses to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
According to Hurst’s estimate, funding for the deployment would continue through the remainder of Trump’s second term, ending in January 2029.
“While American families are getting flattened by skyrocketing costs, Donald Trump is spending $1.4 billion to keep troops on the streets in Washington for years on end,” Warren said in a statement. “The National Guard are not pawns and taxpayer dollars are not a piggy bank for Trump’s political stunts.”
Deployment tied to Trump’s D.C. initiative
The National Guard mission is part of Trump’s “Make DC Safe and Beautiful” initiative, launched after he declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital in August 2025.
The administration’s proposed fiscal year budget would allocate $605 million to the initiative, including more than $375 million for payroll, travel and personnel costs, along with nearly $230 million for operational expenses such as housing, meals and logistics.
Trump initially ordered roughly 800 National Guard members into Washington in August 2025, arguing the deployment was necessary to combat crime. The operation has since expanded substantially.
Thousands of Guard members now stationed in Washington
As of Aug. 1, more than 4,600 National Guard personnel were serving in Washington, according to the budget documents.
Approximately 680 troops are members of the District of Columbia National Guard, while the remainder come from units across the country. States in the South have supplied many of the personnel, with Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi contributing the largest contingents.
Several states also deployed additional Guard members to support security and logistics during the Trump administration’s Freedom250 celebration marking the nation’s 250th anniversary in July.
Some deployments occurred with little public notice. In Idaho, for example, state officials did not formally announce that National Guard members had been sent to Washington.
Future funding planned through 2029
Defense Department budget projections assume the deployment will continue with an average force of roughly 2,500 National Guard personnel through January 2029.
The Pentagon estimates the mission will require:
- $625.8 million in fiscal year 2028.
- $198.3 million in fiscal year 2029.
Combined with earlier appropriations, the total projected cost exceeds $1.4 billion over the life of the deployment.
Broader use of National Guard
Washington is not the only city where Trump has relied on National Guard forces during his second term.
The president previously ordered Guard deployments to several Democratic-led cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, citing public safety concerns.
Trump also sought to federalize and deploy troops to Portland, Oregon, though federal courts blocked that effort. He has similarly threatened deployments to cities including New York and Baltimore, often amid disputes with Democratic state and local officials.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, National Guard deployments across the United States cost nearly $500 million in 2025. The agency estimates deploying 1,000 Guard members to a U.S. city typically costs between $18 million and $21 million per month, depending on mission requirements.
The Trump administration has argued the deployments are necessary to improve public safety and protect federal interests, while critics contend the extended military presence represents an unnecessary expense and an expansion of federal authority over local law enforcement.
