US president’s controversial deployment of soldiers to US cities has raised alarm and a series of legal challenges.
Published On 21 Nov 2025
A United States federal judge has said the Trump administration must pause its deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, a setback for the president’s push to send the military into cities across the country.
US District Judge Jia Cobb temporarily suspended the deployment in a ruling on Thursday, responding to a lawsuit filed by city officials who said Trump had usurped policing powers and was using the military for domestic law enforcement.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items
- list 1 of 3North Carolina officials say US Border Patrol has ended Charlotte operation
- list 2 of 3US judge rules Trump illegally ordered National Guard troops to Portland
- list 3 of 3Donald Trump backtracks on plans to ‘surge’ military to San Francisco
end of list
The federal government has unique powers in Washington, DC. But the Trump administration has taken the controversial step to deploy soldiers in a growing list of Democrat-led cities, despite frequent protests from state and local officials and a lack of any emergency conditions.
Cobb, who said in her decision that the president cannot deploy soldiers for “whatever reason” he wants, gave the Trump administration 21 days to appeal the order before it goes into effect.
Lawyers for the government slammed the lawsuit that challenged the military deployment as a “frivolous stunt”.
“There is no sensible reason for an injunction unwinding this arrangement now,