Appeals court allows Trump National Guard deployment in DC to continue

Source: Reuters

December 4, 2025 5:13 PM EST Updated 49 mins ago


Dec 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday handed a victory to President Donald Trump in his effort to keep National Guard troops in Washington, pausing a lower court order that would have ended the deployment in the coming days.' In a written order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted an injunction that said the troops needed to leave the nation's capital by December 11.

The D.C. Circuit's order, which is temporary and does not address the merits of the case, allows Trump to continue a deployment he began this summer and has ramped up in response to a November 26 shooting of two National Guard members near the White House. The order came in a lawsuit filed by District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, a Democrat and the capital city's top legal officer.

Representatives for the White House and Schwalb's office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Thursday. More than 2,000 National Guard soldiers have been in Washington since Trump's initial deployment in August, part of the president's contentious immigration and crime crackdown targeting Democratic-led cities.

The guard troops in the city include contingents from the District of Columbia, as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/appeals-court-allows-trump-national-guard-deployment-dc-continue-2025-12-04/