Mississippi and Louisiana are sending hundreds of National Guard members to Washington, DC, joining a growing list of Republican-led states responding to President Trump's call for a heightened military presence in the nation's capital. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced the deployment of 200 troops, citing the need for a "safe capital city," while Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry endorsed the mission as a way to restore "safety and sanity" to DC, the New York Times reports.
Their decisions follow similar moves by Ohio, West Virginia, and South Carolina, bringing the total number of out-of-state troops headed to DC to about 1,000. These reinforcements join 800 DC National Guard members already on the ground, all operating under federal direction. Troops are highly visible around the city, and some have even posed for photos with tourists, ABC News reports. The precise locations and duties of the incoming guards remain unclear, and both state and Guard officials have declined to elaborate.
The deployments are part of a broader federal push that has included the addition of federal agents and the commandeering of local police resources. Despite these efforts, violent crime in DC has been on a long-term decline, hitting a 30-year low. Trump, however, has insisted—without evidence—that the city is underreporting crime and has accused local leaders of mismanagement.
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Reactions in DC, a city with a largely Democratic population, have ranged from outrage to resignation. Some residents see the troop presence as political theater or an overreach of executive power, while others blame city leadership for inviting federal intervention. The legal boundaries of such deployments remain in question, with past cases still tied up in court.
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