GOP-led states send hundreds of additional National Guard troops to DC
The three GOP governors have pledged to send hundreds more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to help Trump federate.
Straight Arrow News
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump declared victory in the country’s capital 10 days after announcing the federal takeover of Washington Metropolitan Police and 10 days after he announced that he would “save” the city from crime.
On August 21, Trump met with law enforcement officers deployed to patrol a city that he said was ramping with “crime, bloody, bedram, squalol.”
The president arrived at the U.S. Park Police Facility in Anacostia Park on Thursday evening to provide words of encouragement to law enforcement officers. He brought a burger and pizza for the crowd.
“The numbers are falling down to what we don’t believe, but we believe it,” he told the crowd. Among those present were the National Guard, the FBI, the former US S. and the officers of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department. “We’ve had some incredible results. The results come out and it’s like a different place. It’s like a different city.”
“To me, I feel very safe now,” he added.
On August 11, Trump deployed 800 National Guard forces in Washington, DC, and declared a public safety emergency. Several Republican states, including Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana, have sent security guards to the capital to support the Trump administration’s efforts. The troops are deployed in tourist-heavy locations such as national malls such as Union Station and Metro stops and transport to assist local law enforcement.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department Police Coalition, since the deployment of the military, carjacking has declined by 83%, and robbery, robbery, car theft, and 22% compared to the past seven days.
However, crime was already declining. According to data from the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime in Washington, DC fell 26% until August 8, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. However, following St. Louis, New Orleans and Detroit, the city had the fourth-highest murder rate in a U.S. city at 27.3 per 100,000 people in 2024.
“It’s the capital, it’s going to be the best in the world,” Trump said.
“We’re going back to Congress for some money, and we’re going to redo a lot of pavement, a lot of central people… all the graffiti is really off fast,” he said.
He then pivoted to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the White House, his latest passion project.
“They’ve been chasing the ballroom for 150 years, and there were no real estate guys,” he said. “As president, I’ve done a lot of ballrooms and we’re going to make this all the best.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA Today. x You can follow her at @swapnavenugopal
