Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, who has denied crime is out of control in her city, described the troop deployment as an "authoritarian push". Trump, a Republican, has also threatened similar deployments against New York and Chicago, two other Democratic-controlled cities.

The DC National Guard began appearing in the nation’s capital on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced a day earlier he is deploying guard troops and placing Washington, DC’s police department “under direct federal control,

Mayor Muriel Bowser sought to reassure residents in the nation's capital, adding that the National Guard deployment was unnecessary.