Thousands of National Guard members have been patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., for more than a yr, in what has become President Trump’s largest and longest home army deployment.

Illustration by Mari Fouz​ for NPR

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Illustration by Mari Fouz​ for NPR

As the sight of armed, uniformed National Guard troops turned ubiquitous in Washington, D.C., over the previous yr, one voice has been notably absent from the public discourse around the deployment: the guard members themselves.

“I will say very frankly that the bad taste that this mission left in my mouth, it actually embarrasses me to be involved in any way,” one guard member who was half of the deployment for several months not too long ago informed NPR.

Thousands of National Guard members have been patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., for more than a yr now, in what has become President Trump’s largest and longest home army deployment. Their presence has become a frequent, and controversial, subject of dialog among D.C. residents and constitutional consultants alike, elevating considerations about the normalization of armed troops in a metropolis for an prolonged interval of time.

Members of the army are not allowed to communicate to the press with out authorization. Under this administration, these guidelines and the ramifications for breaking them have gotten even stricter.

But some members who are no longer a half of the mission have become more open to sharing their ideas as the deployment enters its second yr — and has been prolonged to the finish of President Trump’s time period.

“I don’t want to think about the National Guard. I don’t want to necessarily discuss my affiliation with the National Guard. I don’t want to fulfill my normal National Guard duties just because of the abuses of the National Guard in this D.C. mission,” the guard member said, noting that is not how he’s felt after earlier home deployments.

That guard member was one of three who spoke to NPR on the situation of anonymity because they are still serving and are barred from talking publicly. All of them were deployed as half of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission for many months, and each has more than a decade of service.

In candid interviews, the guard members described their emotions all through their time on the deployment, and their worries about the new norms it’s establishing. They mentioned the price, which is expected to run into the billions. And they say they fear that Trump’s unprecedented use of the troops is damaging the National Guard’s fame with the American public.

All were skeptical about the administration’s authentic cause for the deployment — to assist with legislation enforcement after declaring a “crime emergency”, despite a 30-year low in violent crime in the metropolis.

“Now, with it being a year, it’s hard to feel like that justification holds any water,” said one guard member. “It feels like the guard is being exploited in a sense.”

Another said it feels more like a political stunt, pointing out the method the guard has been inserted into certain narratives by the administration, like being ordered to patrol the perimeter of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool following its defective renovation.

Members of the Army National Guard congregate close to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on July 2 in Washington, D.C.

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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“I hope that there will be some accounting someday — probably after President Trump is gone — about why we were there, and was it worth it? But none of that is gonna happen right now,” that member said.

NPR reached out to both the White House and the D.C. Joint Task Force regarding the considerations raised by the guard members.

The White House responded by reiterating how protected D.C. is now, with out offering proof that the guard is accountable for reducing crime.

In a assertion, Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding common of the D.C. National Guard, called the deployment “unique” and pointed to “significant accomplishments” that guard members contributed in the previous yr, including aiding legislation enforcement with apprehensions, rendering medical support and reuniting lost youngsters with their households.

“Whatever individual perspectives they carry away from their experience, their service and sacrifice deserve our respect,” Blanchard wrote.

“My initial reaction was just shock”

Trump first deployed the D.C. National Guard in August of 2025 — something he can do since the president controls the district’s guard. Hundreds of guard members in the district were pulled from their civilian jobs and instantly called up.

“My very initial reaction was just, I guess, shock and feeling like this context and this situation just felt like a very authoritarian move that kind of felt uncharacteristic of something you would see in our country,” said one member of the D.C. guard, including that the reasoning behind the deployment contributed to the confusion.

In the days and weeks that adopted, Republican governors started sending members of their guard to assist with the mission.

“Walking into it, we had no real specifics,” one guard member who was deployed from West Virginia remembered pondering. “The president is calling out the guard to make D.C. safe. Well, what the what the f*** does that mean?”

All remembered a scramble in the early days to determine out what everyone should be doing, as more and more troops — who were all deputized as particular legislation enforcement and armed with a handgun — arrived. They said that despite the confusion, there was a collective effort to determine out how to be helpful and efficient. Military members are skilled to be apolitical and observe orders.

“All of these people showed up, and then it was more of an after-the-fact figure out what we’re going to do,” one said, saying everyone was actually making an attempt to be as useful as potential to the neighborhood with whatever sources they were given, like offering Naloxone to counter the results of an opioid overdose or serving to a bicyclist who had been hit by a automotive. “We can argue about why they were there and whether they should be there, but soldiers and airmen were trying to do the best with what they had.”

In the early days, troops were largely assigned to assist with beautification tasks around the metropolis: clearing trash alongside the street, bagging leaves in public parks or trimming bushes at the National Mall. The guard member from West Virginia said that many of the members he had arrived with — most of whom had raised their hand for the deployment — turned rapidly disillusioned.

Air National Guard airmen work clearing leaves and particles from McPherson Square Park on Aug. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

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“I know there were a lot of people that showed up from West Virginia specifically that were just like, I want to help, and then later they found out that they were taking out trash and setting up (logistical equipment). I think they later fell off mission as soon as they could get off,” he said.

Patrolling the streets

As the deployment continued, troops were assigned less to beautification tasks and more to presence patrols around the metropolis — which the job power says are an effort to deter crime — and settled into a routine that one guard member described as “mundane” and another as “monotonous.”

“At some point, I found myself going, well, at least this isn’t that bad. At least I’m not doing anything illegal, and that’s always counterbalanced with, like, this is wasting everyone’s time,” one said, including that it turned clear that the “point of the mission is presence.”

One member who served in Afghanistan likened the patrols to techniques generally used by the U.S. army during the War on Terror in communities to instill goodwill and monitor the opposition.

National Guard troops stand next to a army Humvee at The Park at LeDroit in Northwest D.C. on Aug. 12.

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Another said the lack of clear targets made the deployment really feel never-ending, even as Trump falsely claimed there was “almost zero crime” in D.C. and touted its success.

“If it’s safe now, then why are we here?” one guard member requested. “You don’t really know when good is good enough, or when we can go home. It’s just a continuing thing.”

Two current research have discovered that the National Guard presence has had no impact on violent crime in the metropolis, while it has minimally decreased more opportunistic crime, like petty theft and car break-ins. Both also discovered that native policing could produce higher outcomes for less cash.

The deployment comes with perks

A majority of the almost 4,700 guard members deployed to D.C. are from other states or U.S. territories, most of which are led by Republicans, and have volunteered for the project. All three guard members said that despite their considerations, they understood why folks might elevate their hand.

“It’s a good paycheck, and I can’t blame them for wanting to better their own financial situation when the economy is how it is right now,” one said, noting that many of the troops are very younger, come from more rural communities and might not have regular revenue back residence.

There are a host of other incentives as effectively, from per diems to boosts to their retirement advantages.

The guard member from West Virginia said that usually, on home deployments, he was used to sleeping on the flooring of an armory, perhaps with out electrical energy, and consuming ready-to-eat army meals. But this D.C. deployment was much more snug.

“The food on the mission was very good. My hotel was very nice,” he said, noting that was completely different even from other occasions he had come to D.C. on deployment for occasions like the inauguration.

The hundreds of out-of-state guard members have been staying in resorts all through the metropolis for more than a yr. Recently, the federal authorities awarded a almost $300 million contract — the largest of its variety ever — to a native firm for hundreds of furnished, luxurious flats, saying the transfer would in the end get monetary savings on prolonged lodging for the troops in D.C.

That guard member said that when elected officers or other leaders would come go to the troops, they would always ask how they could make it higher.

“There was never a discussion of whether you should be here. It was always, ‘What do you need?'” he said. “Which is nice as a military member, but once we see what all this is going to cost in the very end, it’s probably not going to feel so great.”

An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office discovered that the D.C. deployment at its present stage prices about $3 million per day. The Pentagon estimates extending the deployment until 2029 will price an further $1.4 billion. A complete price estimate by the nonpartisan watchdog Project on Government Oversight for the deployment is around $3.4 billion.

A private price

The deployment has also had a human price, after a gunman shot two guard members from West Virginia patrolling close to the White House last November. One of these members, 20-year-old Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, was killed. It was a pivotal second in the deployment.

“I remember feeling just really sad,” one guard member said, beginning to tear up a bit. “And I kept thinking — did they have to be here?”

Another said the killing equally made him query the necessity of the deployment in actual phrases.

Members of legislation enforcement, including the U.S. Secret Service and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, reply after two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot close to the White House on Nov. 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

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“The thing that really stuck out to me was how absolutely futile that death felt, and that was hard to live with,” he said, noting he still thinks about Beckstrom virtually every day and sometimes visits the spot where she was shot, even though he did not know her personally. “After her death, this mission became untenable for me emotionally.”

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. legal professional for the District of Columbia, called the capturing a “direct challenge to law and order in our capital,” and the White House responded by including lots of more troops to the metropolis.

The guard member from West Virginia said he’s been particularly offended about the capturing, saying he’s had to work in remedy about guilt he’s felt for not being there when it occurred.

“We were made a target, and I don’t know that anybody did a very good job of planning for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

Blanchard refuted that, saying that “no mission is without risk” and the loss “remains deeply felt across the National Guard.”

“Force protection and the safety of our Soldiers and Airmen remain paramount. We continually assess the operating environment and adapt to changing conditions to better protect the force while accomplishing the mission,” he said in a assertion.

A hurt to the National Guard’s fame

The prolonged and rising deployment — and the administration’s unprecedented use of the National Guard in other components of the nation — has led to a rising anti-guard sentiment, which all three members acknowledged.

Throughout D.C. in the areas most patrolled by the troops, indicators are plastered on lampposts and chalked on sidewalks urging “National Guard Go Home” and “Troops out now.” Residents commonly method the patrols and communicate their thoughts, sometimes with what one of the guard members called “misdirected anger.”

Demonstrators rally during a “FreeDC” protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 11 to mark one yr since President Trump deployed members of the National Guard into the metropolis.

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The guard member from West Virginia said it was the first time he’d ever not had the neighborhood in a home deployment welcome the assist, since the guard often reveals up after floods or pure disasters.

All were involved that there was harm being finished to the fame of the National Guard.

“If we continue down this path, where this kind of ‘presence patrol’ mission becomes the new definitive image of the National Guard, it’s going to completely rebrand everything that was noble about the National Guard into being mundane at best and threatening at worst,” one guard member said.

“I would like to think there would be enough mechanisms to have checks and balances that would be able to say overtly that’s not what we want to see in our country,” another one said.

The member paused before including: “I don’t know if that’s the case right now.”