West Virginia National Guard troops have begun to arrive in Washington, DC, to assist with President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, a defense official told CNN on Tuesday.
The troops could begin assisting the DC National Guard operationally as soon as Wednesday after they have completed their in-processing, the defense official added.
Their arrival comes after the Republican governors of six states — West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee — announced they will send guard members to Washington, DC.
The deployment of other states’ troops marks an escalation of Trump’s efforts to amass forces in the capital. The president previously announced that he was deploying DC National Guard troops to the city, surging federal agents into the streets, and federalizing DC’s police force. The president has repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, but overall crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024.
The defense official said Tuesday that while there are roughly 2,400 personnel in the DC National Guard, assistance from other states was needed because of how many troops are either undergoing training elsewhere or are on leave.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Monday he approved about 135 National Guard troops to DC, while Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced he would deploy approximately 200 members.
Tennessee will send roughly 160 guard members to the city this week following a request from the Trump administration, Gov. Bill Lee’s press secretary said in a Tuesday statement to CNN.
Over the weekend, West Virginia’s governor said his state was sending 300 to 400 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital. South Carolina authorized the deployment of 200 troops, and Ohio said it will send 150.
When asked on Monday how she feels about the additional states’ troops, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “We don’t have any authority over the DC Guard or any other guards.” The president has power over the DC National Guard.
“But I think it kind of makes the point that this is not about DC crime,” the Democratic mayor said.
The defense official said the National Guard is operating at 10 Metrorail stations in the city. They are not carrying firearms and have not been requested to do so, the official added. As of Monday morning, 896 DC soldiers and airmen were mobilized on the mission.
Asked whether they will deploy to high-crime areas of the capital, the defense official said, “That’s not the request” and that it would be more the focus of law enforcement, not the National Guard.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the federal law enforcement operation is “working,” highlighting 52 arrests Tuesday night, a similar figure 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, at least one Republican governor has refused to send 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 office said in a statement.
“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 statement said.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas, criticized the GOP governors who sent troops, saying in a statement, “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.”
CNN’s Shania Shelton and Jenna Monnin contributed to this report.
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