The National Guard troops that President Donald Trump has deployed to the nation's capital will remain there until the conclusion of his term, an extension of more than two years.

The mission will continue until January 20, 2029, "or until terminated by the President," according to an email from the Pentagon confirming the extension on Thursday. The deployment was already extended and was scheduled to terminate at the end of this year.

Since Trump issued an executive order in August 2025 calling up the Guard and additional federal law enforcement agents to address what he described as a crime emergency, the deployment in Washington, DC, has been controversial.

 Although local officials contend that crime was already declining prior to Trump's decision for 2,500 troops to enter the city, the government claims that crime has drastically decreased since then.

Guard members have helped with snow removal, assisted with arrests, attended to medical situations, and completed beautification projects throughout their deployment.

Phil Mendelson, chairman of the District of Columbia Council, stated in April that "the presence of armed soldiers on American streets is not a good look" and that "taxpayers are paying more than a million dollars a day to have them walk around."

While more restricted operations continue in locations like New Orleans, deployments to other cities have either ceased or been halted by courts in California and Illinois. However, Guard troops continue to police parks, neighborhoods, metro stations, tourist destinations, and city streets in Washington.

In November, authorities said that a man drove from Washington State to Washington, DC, and opened fire outside a metro station three blocks from the White House, killing one Guard member and wounding another.

 Spc. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom, who was slain, were sent from West Virginia.

Trump has far more control over the DC National Guard and police because the city of Washington is a congressionally created federal district. He has been able to avoid the legal difficulties he has encountered in certain states because to this.

The Trump administration has claimed that the Guard members' support for the larger goal has contributed to a decrease in crime, despite the fact that they do not conduct arrests.

 In April, the White House announced that thousands of illicit firearms had been seized and that a combined task force had made 12,000 arrests since operations started, including 62 known gang members.

However, authorities in Washington, a predominantly Democratic city, cannot agree on how much credit the deployment deserves. Crime was already declining, according to statistics, but the local police were accused of manipulating the data, which prompted an investigation.