National Guard Troops To Remain In Washington D.C. Through End Of 2026

Photo by Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via AP

National Guard troops will remain in Washington, D.C. through the end of 2026, marking the third extension for the deployment of troops in the capital.

President Donald Trump first deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. in August, as part of a promised federal takeover to bring down the crime rate. The mission was originally set to expire at the end of November 2025, before an October extension pushed the end date to February 2026.

The new orders are set to run until December 31, an official familiar with the matter told CNN. National guard troops will continue conducting armed patrols and beautification projects, defense officials familiar with the plan told The Washington Post. 

Joint Task Force-DC, the National Guard headquarters that oversees the deployment, said that 2,673 troops were assigned to the mission as of Friday. The force is made up of 714 members of the D.C. National Guard, and 1,959 additional troops sent from 11 Republican led states, including Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, West Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama.

The extension comes just weeks after Trump announced he would remove National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland in light of a Supreme Court ruling that claimed the president had failed to establish the “exceptional” circumstances that would legally authorize him to federalize the National Guard troops in Chicago.

Trump warned in his post announcing the withdrawal that troops “will come back…when crime begins to soar again,” which he said was “[o]nly a question of time!”

The D.C. deployment gained national attention and 500 additional troops after the deadly shooting of two National Guard members in November that killed 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and injured West Virginia National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe.

The attack was allegedly committed by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan refugee with ties to the CIA. Lakanwal faces charges of first-degree murder while armed, multiple assault charges, and several weapons offenses. He pleaded not guilty to initial charges.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!