Trump’s City Troop Deployments Cost $500M

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to cities has cost nearly $500 million, a new Congressional Budget Office [CBO] estimate shows.

The nonpartisan budget office estimated last year’s deployments cost $496 million and warned a year of similar operations could top $1 billion.

The figures, covering the last six months of 2025, were released after a request from Senate Budget Committee Democrat Jeff Merkley and exclude a recent New Orleans deployment.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson credited Trump’s efforts with making cities like Memphis and D.C. safer, saying residents can now go about daily life without fear of crime.

Since June, thousands of troops have been sent to US cities at $93M per month, prompting legal and political warnings about cost and authority.

Trump first sent 4,000 Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in June, followed by deployments to D.C., Memphis, Portland, and Chicago, though courts later blocked some missions.

In December, Guard troops went to New Orleans, costing about $260 per day per member, drawing criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a political “slush fund.”