WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s planned deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., through the end of his presidential term will cost $1.43 billion, or $51 million a month, in addition to the amount spent so far, according to a new Pentagon estimate.

The new estimate of the costs going forward, first reported by The Washington Post and viewed by CQ Roll Call, was contained in a written response by Jules “Jay” W. Hurst III, the nominee for Pentagon comptroller, to a question for the record from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Hurst’s estimate covers the period beginning with the Oct. 1 start of fiscal 2027 and ending in January 2029.

The Congressional Budget Office projected in January that the D.C. deployments, which began one year ago this month, were costing about $55 million per month.

If CBO’s estimate was accurate, that would put the cost from August 2025 through this September above $700 million.

Consequently, an additional projected cost of $1.43 billion from this October through January 2029 would bring the total cost from last August through the end of Trump’s second term to in excess of $2 billion.

The funds, Hurst wrote, would mainly cover pay and travel allowances for troops but would also go toward their lodging and meals.

Hurst’s estimates are: $605.1 million for fiscal 2027, $625.8 million for fiscal 2028 and $198.3 million for the nearly four months of Trump’s second term after Oct. 1, 2028.

The deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital has triggered an outcry, mainly from Democrats. Their concerns center not just on the mission’s expense but also on worries about the blurring of the line between America’s military and police forces and the impact on National Guard readiness.

The deployments in D.C. do not appear to have had an appreciable effect on the crime rate.

“While American families are getting flattened by skyrocketing costs, Donald Trump is spending $1.4 billion to keep troops on the streets in Washington for years on end,” Warren said in an emailed statement. “The National Guard are not pawns and taxpayer dollars are not a piggy bank for Trump’s political stunts.”

Hurst’s estimate assumes a steady-state level of 2,500 Guard personnel deployed in Washington, which would be a drop from the recent surge to 4,600 soldiers in the capital for the celebration of America’s 250th birthday this summer.

By comparison, CBO’s $55 million per month cost estimate in January assumed the Guard would retain a force of 2,950 in D.C.

©2026 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.