DC protests President Trump’s criminal crackdown and military deployment
Protesters in Washington, DC oppose President Donald Trump’s criminal crackdown and military deployment.
- President Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington, DC to combat crime in the city.
- Trump also deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles in June in response to immigration protests.
- In June 2025, the most protests were in the month since June 2020.
President Donald Trump has received widespread backlash over his decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C., but this is not the first time the move has sparked controversy in his term.
Following the famous attack on a 19-year-old former government efficiency (DOGE) employee known as the “big ball,” Trump announced his administration would control the metropolitan police station, ordering 800 security guards to the country’s capital. In June, protests over widespread arrests and attacks of immigrants prompted Trump to send National Guard to Los Angeles, California.
Trump said security guards were sent to quell the mostly peaceful protests, but did so without the governor’s consent or invitation. It’s just before the “king” protest that appeared on Trump’s birthday nationwide, and organizers will predict Trump’s militarized response in LA, including deploying Marines in the city, and stimulate more protesters.
It has been the busiest month of protest since 2020. Here’s what you need to know.
Why did Trump deploy the National Guard to DC?
Trump said he has taken over Washington, D.C. to deal with crime and homelessness, despite the fact that violent crime has fallen by 26% in 2025 compared to last year. He deployed hundreds of National Guard troops and moved to place Metropolitan Police Stations under the Department of Justice.
Trump has special authority to deploy the National Guard to DC. He did so in 2020.
“We’re not going to lose cities about this. This will go further. We’ll start very strongly from DC,” Trump said, adding that he might aim for other cities like Chicago in the future.
The move has sparked severe criticism from Democrats around the country.
“D.C.’s violent crime is at the lowest level in 30 years. We changed our laws and strategies due to unacceptable spikes in 2023,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a televised community meeting on August 12.
On August 15, the District of Columbia sued the administration in an attempt to stop Trump’s police takeover. DOJ has previously declined to comment.
June has been the busiest month of protests since 2020
The protests earlier this year had already risen than the first months of the previous administration before Trump was sent to largely peaceful protests in Los Angeles in early June. Dave Clark, a professor of political science at Binghamton University, has collected global mass mobilization data, but said that militarized responses to protests could make a difference.
“I’d say using the military for civil control is a wild card here,” he said in June. “In many cases, the move towards the authoritarian kind of tactics actually brings out more protesters.”
A few days later, people across the country participated in the “king” protest that took place on Trump’s 79th birthday and the day of the Army’s 250th anniversary parade in DC.
Data from the Crowd Count Consortium, a joint project between Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut, shows that the first five months of this year have seen more protests than former President Joe Biden’s term and the first year of Trump’s first term. The Consortium Project collects information that has been published by American political crowds, including marches, protests, and riots.
It has also been shown that over 4,600 protests were seen in June 2025, indicating that nearly 7,500 protests have erupted nationwide following the murder of George Floyd in the first calendar month since June 2020.
Clark’s data from the protests since June 1 show a tendency to oppose titles, notes and “heavy handing” tactics included in the claims, including words such as “militarization,” “police state,” and “sweep.”
Trump warned those who had planned to protest the district’s takeover that they would also meet with gravity.
“You spit and we got a hit,” he said at a press conference on August 11th.
Is the National Guard still in Los Angeles?
Trump pulled back everything except the hundreds of national security guards he sent to Los Angeles.
California sued the Trump administration after Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in Los Angeles amid protests of immigrant arrest. Gov. Gavin Newsom argued that the deployment was an illegal use of the military, according to Reuters.
The trial took place for several days, ending August 13, Reuters reported, with a ruling expected in the coming weeks.
Contributors: Bert Janssen, Joey Garrison, Trevor Hughes, Michael Loria, Tao Nuguen, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and Tiktok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
