The Pentagon is planning to maintain the National Guard presence in the District of Columbia until the end of President Trump’s second term, which extends through January 20, 2029, according to multiple reports. The plan, reportedly finalized late last year, is in its final stages and is awaiting approval from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“The Department of War is committed to supporting the President’s mission to address the epidemic of crime in our Nation’s capital,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement, the Washington Times reported. “There are no announcements to make at this time.”
More than 2,500 National Guard troops are currently stationed in Washington as part of the Trump administration’s initiative called “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful,” which began in August. Their deployment was originally scheduled to conclude in 2025, but it has been extended until the end of 2026, the Times reported.
In November, two National Guard members from West Virginia were shot near the White House. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom succumbed to her injuries, while Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, the outlet noted.
In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit halted a lower court ruling that would have required the deployment to end soon. The appeals panel lifted an injunction that would have forced the Guard to withdraw by December 11.
The court’s decision came in response to a legal challenge filed by District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, a Democrat. Trump first deployed National Guard troops to the capital on August 11 in response to rising violent crime in Washington. Since then, the district has seen the deployment of more than 2,000 Guard members.
Earlier Thursday, Judge Jia Michelle Cobb of the US District Court for DC ruled that Trump violated the city’s Home Rule Act by using Guard units for non-military crime deterrence operations. Her decision placed a 21 day stay on the order, allowing troops to remain until December 11, 2025. The stay also provided time for the Trump administration to appeal.
The White House told the Daily Mail that “Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington D.C. to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks.”
“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
In her ruling, Cobb wrote that Trump’s deployment intruded on the authority of local officials and violated the Constitution. She said the president cannot call up the National Guard in DC or any state for “whatever reason [he] sees fit.”
Schwalb sued to block the deployments and asked the court to bar the White House from sending troops to the district without approval from the mayor. Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington in August.
He deployed 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and DC to patrol the streets under the command of the Secretary of the Army. He also sent hundreds of federal agents from agencies including the FBI, ATF, DEA, and HSI to support 24 hour patrols.
The man arrested for ambushing and shooting two National Guard members the day before Thanksgiving will now face a first-degree murder charge, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in November. Pirro announced the upgraded charge after officials confirmed that Beckstrom had died from her wounds.
Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is also facing three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Beckstrom’s father, Gary Beckstrom, wrote on Facebook, “My baby girl has passed to glory. If I don’t talk to you don’t be offended this has been a horrible tragedy.”