- President Donald Trump has extended the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., through January 2029, a move estimated to cost $1.4 billion.
- More than 4,600 military personnel remain stationed in the nation's capital to support law enforcement operations, neighborhood patrols, and civic projects.
- Federal officials credit the surge with over 13,000 arrests and a 20 percent drop in crime, though critics attribute the decline to ongoing municipal efforts.
- Civil rights advocates and city residents continue to oppose the military presence, viewing it as an unnecessary infringement on the district's home rule.
- "There’s a deep irony that here we are in the capital of the free world, and our president is treating it like a police state," said Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia. "D.C. residents have lived with our National Guard troops in our neighborhoods for about a year, despite the absence of any genuine emergency and really any reason for them to be here."
IN FULL
