This summer, the Trump administration has spent staggering amounts of taxpayer money invading cities like Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with federal troops, against the wishes of local voters and their elected officials.

Stephen Miller’s fingerprints are all over this crackdown. According to reports, he helped drive Trump’s D.C. takeover — with Trump now suggesting cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and New York are next. And it’s happening at your expense.

Experts estimate the D.C. deployment alone is costing us about $1 million every single day – as of this piece’s publication on DATE, that’s X. In Los Angeles, mobilizing 4,000 troops racked up an estimated $134 million bill. 

Meanwhile, the administration has slashed billions of dollars of funding for social services, healthcare, public media, and national parks. Instead of investing in programs that make our communities stronger, the White House has chosen to funnel our money into unnecessary military deployments.

This money could go to programs that actually help people. We could restore some of the funding for Medicare and Medicaid. We could put roofs over the heads of unhoused families. We could strengthen our public schools, fund research, or support public media that educates and connects us.

Trump’s Deployments Hurt Taxpayers, Communities, and the Troops Themselves

What are taxpayers getting for this enormous price tag? Nothing more than an unwanted and unwarranted military police on their streets. The majority of Americans disapprove of the National Guard’s presence in D.C., and violent crime in the nation’s capital is at a 30-year low. 

Even the White House is running out of things for the National Guard to do. While some troops are still stationed at airports and monuments, many are now tasked with other duties, like picking up trash. But D.C. already has sanitation workers, so we’re spending around $530 per day per soldier for them to do work that city workers are already trained and paid to do.

The deployments are also dragging down troops’ morale. Guardsmen have reported that these performative missions have drained budgets so badly that some have had to skip monthly drills, which they need to earn retirement credit. Missing those drills puts their benefits at risk, demoralizing service members who have already given years of their lives.

Meanwhile, soldiers are watching millions get wasted on parades and political stunts while their barracks fall apart and the VA cuts staff. Instead of honoring service members, Trump is burning through resources that should be providing for their benefits and basic living conditions.

Millions of Dollars Are Being Wasted While Trump and Congress Make Devastating Cuts to Healthcare and Other Key Programs

Every dollar wasted on these unnecessary troop deployments is a theft from working people – and diverting resources away from the housing, poverty reduction, and education that would actually cut down on crime and instability.

While Trump isn’t literally taking money out of another program’s account for each of these deployments, his spending speaks volumes about what his priorities are. Rural hospitals closing? He doesn’t care. Millions of Americans uninsured or struggling to afford healthcare? He’ll cut Medicaid. But if there’s a local elected official anywhere in the country that doesn’t kiss the ring, he’ll waste millions of your dollars to teach them a lesson.  

​​Sending troops to more cities would only multiply the waste. We can’t afford it, and our communities deserve better.