The Trump administration's crime crackdown just got a major extension.
Democrats are in full meltdown mode over the move.
And Pete Hegseth just extended National Guard deployments in DC after one stunning development.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., through February 2026, canceling plans for the roughly 2,400 troops to go home at the end of November.¹
The deployment already set off a political firestorm when President Trump first ordered troops to the nation's capital in August.
Trump declared a "crime emergency" in Washington, D.C., citing a violent crime crisis overwhelming local authorities.²
The President deployed approximately 800 members of the D.C. National Guard and temporarily placed the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control.
Within weeks, the deployment expanded to include National Guard troops from seven Republican-led states including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia.³
The extension means approximately 2,387 National Guard troops will continue patrolling Washington's streets, monuments, and Metro stations through at least February.⁴
Crime numbers dropped but questions remain about deployment tactics
The White House pointed to significant crime reductions to justify extending the mission.
Violent crime dropped 17% and property crime decreased 18% in the 30 days following the August deployment compared to the prior month.⁵
The data shows robberies declined 46%, car thefts fell 21%, and carjackings plummeted 83%.⁶
Washington went seven days without a single homicide shortly after troops arrived – something that hadn't happened in years.⁷
Federal forces were actually deployed to the city's highest-crime neighborhoods, not low-crime tourist areas as critics claimed – with deployment zones showing crime concentrations far above the district's average.⁸
More than 1,669 arrests were made since the surge began, including eight MS-13 gang members and over 100 illegal immigrants with prior arrests for serious crimes.⁹
The Trump administration seized 115 firearms and cleared 49 homeless encampments across the district.¹⁰
But D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser insisted that the surge in federal law enforcement agents from agencies like the FBI and DEA – not National Guard troops – actually drove the crime reductions when she testified before the House Oversight Committee in September.¹¹
Legal battles and escalating costs shadow the deployment's future
The deployment costs taxpayers roughly $1 million daily, and those costs will now extend through at least February.¹²
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to block the deployment, claiming Trump violated two laws that restrict the military from acting as domestic police.¹³
Internal documents show Guard officials already planning for troops to stay through summer 2026 – this isn't temporary, it's the new normal.¹⁴
The government shutdown meant these Guard members weren't getting paychecks, though they'll get paid eventually.¹⁵
Democrats scream that Trump's abusing presidential power and getting Americans used to soldiers on city streets.
"I think we're seeing continued efforts by the president to expand his power and abuse it in that process," said Hina Shamsi, director of the national security project with the American Civil Liberties Union.¹⁶
The troops operate under Title 32 orders, meaning they're under state command but federally funded and authorized to conduct law enforcement activities.¹⁷
This legal framework allows them to support local police without triggering the Posse Comitatus Act's prohibition on federalized military forces acting as domestic law enforcement.
Trump's deployment pattern expands beyond Washington
The D.C. deployment established a template Trump is now replicating in other cities.
Trump signed an order in September deploying federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, calling it a "replica" of his D.C. crackdown.¹⁸
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, didn't want the troops even though Tennessee's Republican Governor Bill Lee asked for them.¹⁹
Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Baltimore – Trump's already threatened to send troops to all of them.²⁰
Notice the pattern? Every city Trump targets has two things in common: sky-high crime rates and Democrat leadership.
Memphis had the highest violent crime rate per capita among U.S. cities in 2024 at 2,501 per 100,000 residents – nearly seven times the national average.²¹
But Memphis police reported overall crime hitting a 25-year low in 2025, with murder at a six-year low and robbery at a 25-year low.²²
Legal experts warn the expanding deployments test the limits of presidential power and challenge centuries of American tradition limiting military involvement in domestic affairs.
"The military should not be policing civilians," Shamsi added. "There are laws and safeguards against that, and the president is undermining them in ways that are really harmful to checks and balances, as well as our civil rights and civil liberties."²³
The tourism industry in Washington took a hit during the deployment as visitors stayed away from areas with visible military presence.²⁴
Restaurant reservations dropped and the perception of tanks and checkpoints – amplified by Trump's slick videos – kept some tourists from visiting despite the actual footprint being smaller than portrayed.²⁵
But Hegseth isn't backing down from the strategy that's now extending through winter.
The extension sends a clear message that Trump plans to keep using federal military forces to combat urban crime regardless of opposition.
Whether that approach succeeds long-term or creates more problems than it solves remains the critical question as February approaches.
¹ The Hill, "Hegseth extends National Guard in DC through February," October 30, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ The Hill, "Hegseth extends National Guard in DC through February," October 30, 2025.
⁴ CNN Politics, "National Guard orders in DC extended through February 2026," October 29, 2025.
⁵ Baltimore Sun, "Did the National Guard lower crime in DC? What data shows," September 23, 2025.
⁶ Fox Baltimore, "National Guard's presence slashes D.C. crime rates," August 21, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ CBS News, "D.C. crime data amid National Guard deployments analysis," August 27, 2025.
⁹ NPR, "Who has been swept up in the federal law enforcement surge in D.C.," September 5, 2025.
¹⁰ CBS News, "D.C. crime data amid National Guard deployments analysis," August 27, 2025.
¹¹ The Hill, "Hegseth extends National Guard in DC through February," October 30, 2025.
¹² CNN Politics, "National Guard orders in DC extended through February 2026," October 29, 2025.
¹⁴ The Hill, "Hegseth extends National Guard in DC through February," October 30, 2025.
¹⁵ Washington Examiner, "Hegseth extends National Guard deployment to DC until February," October 30, 2025.
¹⁶ CNN Politics, "National Guard orders in DC extended through February 2026," October 29, 2025.
¹⁷ NPR, "Trump is deploying the National Guard to Memphis," September 18, 2025.
¹⁸ NPR, "Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained," October 7, 2025.
¹⁹ PBS NewsHour, "Trump deploys National Guard to Memphis," September 15, 2025.
²⁰ Al Jazeera, "Trump orders National Guard troops to Memphis," September 16, 2025.
²¹ Democracy Docket, "Mapped: Trump's Deployment of National Guard Troops," October 20, 2025.
²² Al Jazeera, "Trump orders National Guard troops to Memphis," September 16, 2025.
²³ Ibid.
²⁴ NPR, "Trump is deploying the National Guard to Memphis," September 18, 2025.
²⁵ CNN Politics, "DC crime falls, but tourism takes a hit," September 9, 2025.
²⁶ Ibid.
