Louisiana National Guard troops return to Washington for Trump task force

• Louisiana National Guard soldiers have been deployed to Washington, D.C., for a second time.
• The deployment is part of a crime emergency declared by President Trump nine months ago.
• About 125 soldiers will assist local police and the D.C. National Guard in a support role.
• The soldiers will patrol high-traffic areas but will not have the authority to make arrests.

Louisiana National Guard soldiers have returned to Washington, D.C., on a second deployment as part of President Trump’s continued crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington nine months ago to trigger deployments of states’ National Guard troops to the capital.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry first sent a contingent of Louisiana soldiers to Washington in August 2025. Lt. Col. Noel Collins told USA Today Network on May 13 that all of those soldiers returned to Louisiana by the end of December.

Landry’s latest deployment of Louisiana soldiers includes about 125 who began assisting other soldiers and local police May 12.

Louisiana’s soldiers won’t make arrests, but they will patrol high-traffic areas while playing a supporting role for the D.C. National Guard and local police.

The White House has said its capital crime task force has made more than 12,000 arrests since August and seized thousands of illegal guns.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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