President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump controversially federalized the California National Guard amid anti-ICE protests that delved into riots in Los Angeles in June. Protesters were rejecting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations and Trump's robust immigration crackdown.
The president bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority to deploy National Guard troops to support ICE deportation. It was the first time a president federalized the National Guard in more than 60 years.
Now, the tension between local and federal powers is unfolding in the nation's capital. But just like in California, many Washington residents have concerns about seeing "troops on our streets."
"We have laws for a reason," one resident told Fox News Digital.
"Privatizing security is a terrible idea, and I think anything that Trump does is garbage," another Washington resident added.
FBI and Border Patrol officers arrest a man along the U Street corridor during a federal law enforcement deployment to the nation's capital on Aug. 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
"Things do seem out of control and desperate, but I don't know what kind of numbers to take, what numbers to read. One minute they'll say crime is out of control. Next minute, they will say crime is down a certain percentage. It's kind of confusing, and I don't know who to believe in and which way to go, to be honest," a Washington resident said, articulating the dichotomy between the low crime statistics and the alarming crime stories.
But another D.C. resident said, "There's no way he should be in control of anything," and Washington, D.C., "should be a state," so the district has more power to make decisions for itself.
"I don't think it's necessary," another Washington resident added. "I do think there needs to be some change within [the] Metropolitan [Police Department] because safety is an issue."
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She added: "It needs to be localized."
Fox News Digital's Diana Stacy contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-plan-deploy-national-guard-dc-sparks-backlash-from-residents-but-some-welcome