Gov. Mike DeWine is explaining and defending his decision to send 150 Ohio National Guard troops to Washington D.C. to help with what President Trump has declared to be a "public safety emergency." They’ll join around 650 troops in the nation’s capital from West Virginia and South Carolina – also Republican-run states.
Last week Trump claimed federal control over the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. and put National Guard troops on the streets. He signed an executive order that said "crime is out of control in the District of Columbia" and that violence and homelessness "urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure transportation and the proper functioning of the Federal Government." Trump and Republican politicians have often talked the rising threat of crime in cities. But Washington's local leaders have strongly objected, stating that crime and homelessness have actually fallen in that city. Data compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice shows crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low.
DeWine said in an interview that the call to deploy the D.C. National Guard was President Trump’s, not his. But the request for troops from Ohio was his decision.
“Getting a call from the Secretary of the Army's office—a direct request to send troops out there to be in direct support of the District of Columbia National Guard—I'm not going to turn down that request to do that," DeWine said.
DeWine said it would be "a limited engagement for 30 days." And he said he did insist that no guardsmembers to be sent to DC are employed by local law enforcement.
"I told the adjutant general that we would do that with one caveat," DeWine said. "And that would be that none of the MPs would be taken from any police department in the state. I didn't want to deplete our local police departments in any way."
He noted he dispatched troops requested by Democratic mayors to Columbus and Cleveland and to Minnesota at the request of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and to Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina after damaging storms in those states.
"This is very consistent with what I've done for the last six and a half years," DeWine said. "Whether it's Democrat or Republican, I don't care. We want to support the local community. And again, this is a request directly from Secretary of the Army, to support our troops who are in Washington D.C., the Washington D.C. National Guard. And so that's the request that we fulfilled."
Ohio Democrats have said they oppose the decision. Columbus Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03) said in a statement she was "deeply disappointed".
"Let’s be clear: Trump’s actions are not about addressing crime. They are about instilling fear in our communities and distracting from the failed tariff policies, unlawful actions, and lack of transparency from this administration," said Beatty. “The men and women of Ohio’s National Guard signed up to serve their country, not a lawless President who has repeatedly ignored our nation’s Constitution and principles.”
