USA US court: National Guard deployment in Washington illegal
A federal judge has ruled that the deployment of the National Guard in the US capital Washington was unlawful. The authorities had exceeded the limits of their legal powers, wrote Judge Jia Cobb.
20.11.2025, 22:32
SDA
The government of US President Donald Trump was not allowed to activate the unit in the capital without an express request from the local authorities. Furthermore, it should not have ordered National Guardsmen from other states to Washington for policing purposes, the ruling continued.
Cobb ordered an end to the deployment of the National Guard, but suspended her decision for three weeks to allow the Trump administration to appeal. The order will therefore remain in force until December 11.
Deployment only in exceptional circumstances
The National Guards are military reserve units and part of the US armed forces. They are normally under the control of the federal states and are deployed in the event of natural disasters, unrest or other emergencies. In certain situations, however, the US President can also assume command. There are special rules for Washington.
Trump ordered them to Washington in August and justified their mobilization with an allegedly escalating crime rate. Crime statistics do not support this claim. The city took legal action against the deployment. In her order, Cobb described how National Guardsmen were present at monuments, in metro stations and in residential areas of the capital.
Warning against Trump's authoritarian style of government
According to media reports, around 2,300 National Guardsmen are currently deployed in Washington. According to Cobb, they are to remain in the city until the end of February 2026. According to CNN, the cost of this is estimated at around one million dollars (867,100 euros) per day.
Trump has also had National Guardsmen patrolling other cities. Critics warn that he is using the troops as a testing ground for an increasingly authoritarian style of government. Several legal proceedings are ongoing because of the deployments.
