September 9, 2025

Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.

Poll: 49.7 Percent Of 2024 Voters Support Trump Sending National Guard To Washington, D.C. 

By Robert Romano 

About half of Americans who voted in 2024 support President Donald Trump’s temporary deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. to combat crime in the nation’s capital, with 49.7 percent approving, 45.4 percent disapproving and 4.8 percent uncertain, according to a recent poll by Emerson College taken Aug. 25 to Aug. 26. 

The wave of support comes as the U.S. Army has extended its encampment in Washington, D.C. through Nov. 30.  

Brig. Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, interim commanding general, District of Columbia National Guard on Sept. 4 announced the extension of the deployment, promising to get the job is done: “Our mission is not complete... I've made the decision to extend the encampment as we continue to work to ensure everyone that walks these city streets is safe.” 

And it comes as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is supporting the surge with a Sept. 2 executive order that formalizes coordination between Metro Police and federal law enforcement. 

According to the order, “In response and pursuant to Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, I directed the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice to coordinate federal requests for MPD services to effectuate the shared goals of reducing crime and increasing a sense of security for residents and visitors, including a priority focus on violent crimes especially gun crimes.” 

That confers a lot of legitimacy to the President’s actions, with Mayor Bowser touting a dramatic drop in violent crimes including carjackings going down 87 percent at a press conference on Aug. 28, stating, “The federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington DC. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance … what MPD has been able to do… in this city.” 

In other words, it’s working and helping the city to reclaim its streets. Hence, the extension. And the American people are noticing. 

The support includes 90 percent of Trump voters and about 7.6 percent of Kamala Harris voters, in what passes for bipartisan support for a Trump policy, but Bowser normalizing the National Guard deployment will likely help that along.  

With the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. and the Declaration of Independence upcoming in 2026, the President and Mayor have a lot of incentives to secure the nation’s capital. Make it safe. There could be millions of Americans attending the festivities.  

That could impact downstream public perception of the military deployments being undertaken in cities across the country including to enforce immigration laws, protect the border and secure federal buildings and property, with Trump eyeing Chicago as a major metropolitan area to extend the crime emergency towards.  

Could Trump be about to declare a national crime emergency in America’s cities that makes enforcing federal laws impractical?  

Some blue states are starting to figure it out for themselves. For example, the New Mexico National Guard was recently activated by New Mexico Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in Albuquerque to address rising violent crime. 

Now, there’s a choice. And it can be a bipartisan choice that violent crime is simply unacceptable in our cities.  

What Trump has established is an incentive for governors and mayors to act: If you don’t act to get control of your cities, the President might. 

Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government Foundation.  

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/09/poll-49-7-percent-of-2024-voters-support-trump-sending-national-guard-to-washington-d-c/  

Cartoon: Black Robe Killers 

By A.F. Branco 

Click here for a higher level resolution version. 

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/09/cartoon-black-robe-killers/