Judge blocks Trump’s National Guard deployment to DC, throws legal roadblock into military surge plans

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt its deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, marking a sharp legal pushback against the president’s expanding effort to insert the military into America’s cities.

US District Judge Jia Cobb ruled on Thursday that the deployment cannot proceed as planned, siding with city officials who argue Trump overstepped by using soldiers for domestic law enforcement. In her decision, Cobb made clear the president cannot deploy troops for “whatever reason” he wants, pausing the operation while giving the administration 21 days to appeal.

The White House, unsurprisingly, is not impressed. Justice Department lawyers branded the lawsuit a “frivolous stunt”, insisting there is “no sensible reason for an injunction unwinding this arrangement now, particularly since the District’s claims have no merit”.

Trump’s move has always tested legal and political boundaries. While Washington, DC falls under unique federal jurisdiction, the broader pattern is hard to ignore: troops have also been sent into Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, despite pushback from local leaders and no formal emergency declarations. The administration frames these deployments as crime-fighting and immigration enforcement, but critics see something closer to militarised governance.

Civil liberties groups and residents have reported aggressive raids, racial profiling and cases where US citizens were caught in sweeping enforcement operations. The optics have only intensified as Trump openly threatened to imprison state and local officials who criticised his use of the military.

A legal challenge filed by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb earlier this year warned that American democracy would “never be the same if these occupations are permitted to stand”, underlining the stakes beyond a single city.