Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Democratic-led cities has not only raised questions about the misuse of federal power but also cost taxpayers a significant sum of money.
About $496 million in taxpayer money has been spent on troop deployments in the first seven months of 2025, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report.
In June 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the stationing of the National Guard in Los Angeles, citing issues like increasing crime rates, civil unrest, and illegal immigration. Similar deployments were then ordered in Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Portland – all Democratic-majority cities.
CBO estimates that National Guard deployments to six U.S. cities cost $496 million through end of 2025.
“Continuing the deployments at their end-of-2025 size would cost about $93 million per month, and looking ahead, deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 28, 2026
As states questioned the constitutionality of the order, Jeff Merkley, a Democratic Senator from Oregon, asked the Congressional Budget Office to estimate and disclose financial information about the program.
According to CNN, in a letter addressed to Merkley on Wednesday, the CBO estimated that the Trump administration spent approximately $496 million on National Guard deployments between June and December 2025.
The amount included the cost of troops’ compensation, lodging, food, and transportation. The highest amount was spent in Washington, D.C., where a peak deployment of 2,950 guards cost $223 million.
The capital was followed by Los Angeles, where the troops led to a spending of $193 million. The costs in Memphis, Portland, and Chicago are estimated at $33 million, $26 million, and $21 million, respectively.
Trump announced in December last year that the deployment would come to an end in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland. However, cities like New Orleans, Memphis, and Washington, D.C., continue to station troops.
As per the CBO, if deployment in these districts continues through 2026, it will likely cost an average of $93 million every month. Hence, the government might end up shelling out $1.1 billion in taxpayer money for National Guard deployments in 2026.
Merkley has used this financial information to attack the Trump administration. In an official statement, he has accused the federal government of wasting taxpayer funds on the latter’s authoritarian policies.
The Senator stated, “The American people deserve to know how many hundreds of millions of their hard-earned dollars have been and are being wasted on Trump’s reckless and haphazard deployment of National Guard troops to Portland and cities across the country. Trump is weaponizing taxpayer funds to illegally tighten his authoritarian grip on our communities. It must end.”
Walz: “We’ll be billing the federal government for the cost of the National Guard because they are incurring the costs that are falling on us by their reckless actions” pic.twitter.com/0gd6iYoewk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2026
On the contrary, the White House has claimed that the deployment mission has been a success, resulting in low crime rates. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson announced, “Thanks to the Trump Administration’s highly successful efforts to drive down violent crime, cities like Memphis and D.C. are much safer for residents and visitors – with crime dropping across all major categories.”
Jackson added that instead of criticism, people should focus on how the deployment has made the lives of ordinary Americans safer.
“The media should talk to individuals who are able to go about their daily lives without fear of being assaulted, carjacked, or robbed thanks to the Trump Administration,” she said.
At the time of writing, around 2,400 guards remain deployed in Washington, D.C. In Memphis and New Orleans, the number stands at 400 and 350, respectively.
