Updated on: November 26, 2025 / 9:30 PM EST / CBS News
The Trump administration has directed an additional 500 National Guard personnel to deploy to Washington, D.C., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, hours after two service members were shot a few blocks from the White House.
Hegseth, speaking to reporters while traveling in the Dominican Republic, said President Trump ordered the mobilization. Mr. Trump confirmed the decision in remarks Wednesday night. A U.S. official told CBS News the Army has received the request and will move to fulfill it as quickly as possible.
Those 500 troops would join roughly 2,200 Guard members already in the capital as of Sunday morning. The personnel currently in place include about 900 members of the D.C. National Guard and more than 1,200 Guard members from several states, according to a statement from the military’s Joint Task Force – District of Columbia.
Officials did not say when the additional contingent will arrive or whether the new personnel will be drawn from the D.C. National Guard or from state National Guard units.
The announcement came after two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot in the city. FBI Director Kash Patel said at a briefing that the two service members are in critical condition. Local police said a suspect is in custody and is receiving treatment at a hospital.
Hegseth said the deployment decision was intended to strengthen security in the capital, telling reporters it would ‘‘stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful.’’
Guard forces were first sent to D.C. in August as part of an administration-led anti-crime mission that also involved federal law-enforcement officers and local police.
The deployment has drawn legal challenges from District officials. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued, calling the presence of the Guard illegal. A federal judge recently found the deployment likely violates federal law but paused the ruling for 21 days while the Trump administration pursues an appeal.