The deployment of the National Guard nationwide, starting in June 2025, has cost more than $500 million, The New York Times reported, citing data from the Congressional Budget Office in a letter to Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley.
The office estimated that, given the indefinite deadlines for the National Guard missions in Washington and Memphis, as well as the US administration's plans to deploy National Guard troops to Minneapolis, the cost of deploying troops in 2026 could exceed $1 billion.
Trump began the deployment in the summer of 2025 amid protests against stricter immigration policies, including deportations. In June, the US president signed a memorandum to send 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid the outbreak of mass unrest in the state. California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the federal government for violating state sovereignty and filed a lawsuit against the president. In September, a district judge in California declared Trump's actions illegal.
That same month, Trump announced the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon's largest city. Local authorities filed a lawsuit against his administration and secured a temporary injunction blocking the deployment.
In October, approximately 200 Texas National Guard troops were deployed to a Chicago suburb to protect federal property and personnel, primarily U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. In Illinois, ICE launched a large-scale operation called the “Midway Blitz“, aimed at illegal immigrants. This decision caused outrage among local residents.
On January 1, 2026, Trump announced the withdrawal of the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland.
In early January, ICE conducted an operation in Minneapolis, during which a police officer shot and killed 37-year-old resident Renee McClain Good. This triggered mass protests in the city. Trump administration officials insist that the officer acted in self-defense.
On January 15, the US president threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 against Minnesota if state politicians “do not comply with the law and stop the attacks by professional rioters and insurgents on patriots“ of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The law allows the U.S. president to deploy military forces to states to quell riots, insurrections, or resistance to local authorities if they are “unable or unwilling” to maintain public order. It was last used in 1992, also to quell riots in Los Angeles.
Following the first killing, ICE agents shot and killed another man in Minneapolis on January 24, 37-year-old medical worker Alex Jeffrey Pretty. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it believed the man was armed, but security camera footage showed Pretty was carrying a phone, not a gun. He approached officers, who pushed him to the ground and then shot him at least ten times.