A federal judge has ruled that the National Guard’s current deployment in Washington, D.C., is illegal, marking another chapter in the ongoing conflict between former President Donald Trump and the judicial system. The troops were initially sent to the capital on August 11, 2025, as part of the administration’s efforts to address increasing violent crime in the District of Columbia. More than three months later, the legality of this action continues to be contested in the courts.

Judge Jia Michelle Cobb of the District Court for D.C. determined that the Trump administration breached the District’s Home Rule Act by using National Guard units for crime deterrence operations that are non-military in nature. Her decision, issued on Thursday, imposes a 21-day stay, which permits the troops to remain until December 11, 2025. If not overturned, this could mean the troops would return home with just 14 days left before Christmas.

The stay also provides President Trump with the opportunity to appeal the ruling. In response to requests for comment, the White House told the Daily Mail that President Trump believes he is fully within his legal rights to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C., to safeguard federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific duties.

‘This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC,’ said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement. Cobb wrote in her decision that Trump’s takeover in DC illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement activity and said it violated the Constitution.

She said the president cannot call up the National Guard into DC or any other state for ‘whatever reason [he] sees fit.’ DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to challenge the Guard deployments and asked for the White House to be barred from deploying troops to the District without the mayor’s consent.

Trump declared via executive order in August a crime emergency in Washington, DC. He sent 2,300 National Guard troops from eight different states and DC to patrol the streets under the command of the Secretary of the Army. He also deployed hundreds of federal agencies from a handful of agencies – FBI, ATF, DEA, HSI – to assist with the 24/7 patrols.