Three Republican-led states to send hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three Republican-led states said Saturday that they were deploying hundreds of National Guard members to the nation’s capital to bolster the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul policing in Washington through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.

West Virginia said it was deploying 300 to 400 Guard troops, while South Carolina pledged 200 and Ohio says it will send 150 in the coming days, marking a significant escalation of the federal intervention.

The moves came as protesters pushed back on federal law enforcement and National Guard troops fanning out in the heavily Democratic city following President Donald Trump's executive order federalizing local police forces and activating about 800 District of Columbia National Guard members.

By adding outside troops to the existing D.C. Guard deployment and federal law enforcement presence, Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It’s a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though city officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.

National Guard members have played a limited role in the federal intervention so far, and it’s unclear why additional troops are needed. They have been patrolling at landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station and assisting law enforcement with tasks including crowd control.

The Republican governors of the three states said they were sending hundreds of troops at the request of the Trump administration.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he directed 300 to 400 Guard troops to head to Washington, adding that the state “is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said he authorized the deployment of 200 of his state’s National Guardsmen to help law enforcement in Washington at the Pentagon's request. He noted that if a hurricane or other natural disaster strikes, they would be recalled.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he would send 150 military police from the Guard to “carry out presence patrols and serve as added security” and that they were expected to arrive in the coming days. His statement said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll requested the troops.

The activations suggest the Trump administration sees the need for additional manpower after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers.

A protest against Trump’s intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said, “No fascist takeover of D.C.,” and some in the crowd held signs saying, “No military occupation.”

Morgan Taylor, one of the protest organizers, said they were hoping to spark enough backlash to Trump’s actions that the administration would be forced to pull back on its crime and immigration agenda.

“It’s hot, but I’m glad to be here. It’s good to see all these people out here,” she said. “I can’t believe that this is happening in this country at this time.”

Fueling the protests were concerns about Trump overreaching and that he had used crime as a pretext to impose his will on Washington.

John Finnigan, 55, was taking a bike ride when he ran into the protest in downtown Washington. The real estate construction manager who has lived in the capital for 27 years said Trump's moves were “ridiculous” because crime is down.

“Hopefully, some of the mayors and some of the residents will get out in front of it and try and make it harder for it to happen in other cities,” Finnigan said.

Jamie Dickstein, a 24-year-old teacher, said she was “very uncomfortable and worried” for the safety or her students given the “unmarked officers of all types” now roaming Washington and detaining people.

Dickstein said she turned out to the protest with friends and relatives to “prevent a continuous domino effect going forward with other cities.”

Federal agents have appeared in some of the city’s most highly trafficked neighborhoods, garnering a mix of praise, pushback and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country.

City leaders, who are obliged to cooperate with Trump’s order under the federal laws that direct the district’s local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president’s takeover.

On Friday, the administration reversed course on an order that aimed to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as an “emergency police commissioner” after the district’s top lawyer sued.

After a court hearing, Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued a memo directing the Metropolitan Police Department to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.

City officials say they are evaluating how to best comply.

In his order Monday, Trump declared an emergency due to the “city government’s failure to maintain public order.” He said that impeded the “federal government’s ability to operate efficiently to address the nation’s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.”

In a letter to city residents, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now.”

She added that if Washington residents stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don’t have full access to it.”

Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

Members of the District of Columbia National Guard patrol in front of the White House as a woman rides past on a scooter, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Members of the District of Columbia National Guard patrol along the National Mall, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A first sergeant with the District of Columbia National Guard watches as activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Members of the District of Columbia National Guard patrol along the National Mall, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia near the White House, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists carrying signs march to the White House to protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia near the White House, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington Metropolitan Police officers and military police soldiers with the District of Columbia National Guard watch as activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia near the White House, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists carrying signs pass the Washington Monument as they march to the White House to protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A first sergeant with the District of Columbia National Guard watches as activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Secret Service police officers watch as activists carrying signs march to the White House to protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists protest President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia near the White House, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Activists carry signs during a protest against President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

District of Columbia National Guard soldiers patrol inside Union Station, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Activists carry signs during a protest against President Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

District of Columbia National Guard soldiers pose for photos with people outside Union Station, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Homeland Security Federal Protective Services agents wait on a tow truck to take away a food truck on the National Mall, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Washington. The owner says his employees were asked for immigration status by ICE and then he was told that the truck's tires were bad and it would have to be towed, though he insists it recently passed DC inspection. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks at the state capitol in Charleston, W.Va., Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Myanmar insisted Friday that its deadly military campaign against the Rohingya ethnic minority was a legitimate counter-terrorism operation and did not amount to genocide, as it defended itself at the top United Nations court against an allegation of breaching the genocide convention.

Myanmar launched the campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. Security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes as more than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh.

“Myanmar was not obliged to remain idle and allow terrorists to have free reign of northern Rakhine state,” the country’s representative Ko Ko Hlaing told black-robed judges at the International Court of Justice.

African nation Gambia brought a case at the court in 2019 alleging that Myanmar's military actions amount to a breach of the Genocide Convention that was drawn up in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.

Some 1.2 million members of the Rohingya minority are still languishing in chaotic, overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, where armed groups recruit children and girls as young as 12 are forced into prostitution. The sudden and severe foreign aid cuts imposed last year by U.S. President Donald Trump shuttered thousands of the camps’ schools and have caused children to starve to death.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya Muslim minority to be “Bengalis” from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982.

As hearings opened Monday, Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said his nation filed the case after the Rohingya “endured decades of appalling persecution, and years of dehumanizing propaganda. This culminated in the savage, genocidal ‘clearance operations’ of 2016 and 2017, which were followed by continued genocidal policies meant to erase their existence in Myanmar.”

Hlaing disputed the evidence Gambia cited in its case, including the findings of an international fact-finding mission set up by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council.

“Myanmar’s position is that the Gambia has failed to meet its burden of proof," he said. "This case will be decided on the basis of proven facts, not unsubstantiated allegations. Emotional anguish and blurry factual pictures are not a substitute for rigorous presentation of facts.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi represented her country at jurisdiction hearings in the case in 2019, denying that Myanmar armed forces committed genocide and instead casting the mass exodus of Rohingya people from the country she led as an unfortunate result of a battle with insurgents.

The pro-democracy icon is now in prison after being convicted of what her supporters call trumped-up charges after a military takeover of power.

Myanmar contested the court’s jurisdiction, saying Gambia was not directly involved in the conflict and therefore could not initiate a case. Both countries are signatories to the genocide convention, and in 2022, judges rejected the argument, allowing the case to move forward.

Gambia rejects Myanmar's claims that it was combating terrorism, with Jallow telling judges on Monday that “genocidal intent is the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from Myanmar’s pattern of conduct.”

In late 2024, prosecutors at another Hague-based tribunal, the International Criminal Court, requested an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime for crimes committed against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from Suu Kyi in 2021, is accused of crimes against humanity for the persecution of the Rohingya. The request is still pending.

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2017, file photo, smoke rises from a burned house in Gawdu Zara village, northern Rakhine state, where the vast majority of the country's 1.1 million Rohingya lived, Myanmar. (AP Photo, File)