Three US Republican-led states deployed hundreds more National Guard troops to Washington, DC, marking a significant escalation of federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital.
The ramp-up — which Republicans say is aimed at combating crime — comes even as the White House negotiated a deal with the DC police department to prevent a full federal takeover.
Demonstrators took to the streets to protest the deployment and DC’s mayor called it “un-American.”
Crime in DC has fallen from its 2023 highs, but even in violence-plagued neighborhoods, residents say they don’t trust Trump’s approach.
Officials in Democrat-run cities worry the DC model could become a template for “how cities are policed, cleaned up and run, or ruined,” the Associated Press wrote.