More And More Governors From Republicans Send National Guard To Washington Support Trump's Policy

National Guard in Washington DC/PHOTO via Instagram @deptofdefense

JAKARTA - Hundreds of additional National Guard troops will be sent to Washington, DC, from half a dozen Republican-led states.

The dispatch of these troops reinforces President Donald Trump's extraordinary move to flood the Democratic-led city with soldiers and federal agencies in what he claims is an attempt to fight violent crimes.

Republican governors in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee agreed to deploy troops to Washington, days after Republican governors from West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio also did so at the request of the Donald Trump administration.

Trump described Washington as a city full of violence and homelessness, a description rejected by local officials.

Federal and city statistics show violent crime rates have fallen sharply since the spike in 2023, although the city's death rate remains higher than most other major US cities.

The Justice Department has opened an investigation to find out if the city is manipulating its statistics so that crime rates appear lower, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump wrote, "DC provides Fake Crime Numbers to create false security illusions," without providing evidence. He made a similar statement last week.

Trump announced on August 11, he ordered 800 National Guard troops to the city and temporarily took over the city's police department.

The federal government also sends agents from various agencies, including the FBI, to patrol city streets.

Following a lawsuit filed by city attorney general, the government negotiated a deal with Mayor Muriel Bowser to keep Police Chief Pamela Smith in charge of the department's operations.

Trump has threatened similar operations in other Democratic cities like Chicago, although he is likely to face more legal hurdles than in Washington, where the federal government still has extensive scrutiny under US law.

On the other hand, Trump is accused of fabricating a state of emergency to seize greater control of Washington and target Democratic-controlled cities.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he had approved the deployment of about 135 National Guard troops to Washington. Meanwhile, Governor Mississippi Tate Reeves said he had ordered 200 troops to the capital.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has also deployed 160 National Guard troops to the city, according to local media reports.

"Crimes are out of control there, and obviously something has to be done to eradicate them," Reeves said.

In total, six Republican states have announced the deployment of more than 1,100 National Guard troops to Washington.

"The number of troops in the district does not support a thousand people from other states coming to Washington," the mayor told reporters.

The National Guard Army, which mostly has civilian jobs and is on part-time duty, often responds to natural disasters and other emergencies.

While the National Guard in Washington reports to the president, governors usually control the National Guard in their own state.