What Do Trump’s National Guard Deployments Cost?

Nov. 12, 2025

As of mid-November 2025, President Trump’s National Guard deployments to U.S. cities have expanded from Los Angeles to four other U.S. cities: Washington D.C., Memphis (TN), Portland (OR), and Chicago (IL).

These deployments are federally funded, but transparency about their costs has been lacking. Even basic information about the deployments, including the numbers of troops and the exact dates of their deployment, are sometimes hard to ascertain. A group of senators have requested an official CBO analysis of these costs, but so far no such analysis exists.

Using publicly available information, we estimate the cumulative cost of deploying the National Guard to all five cities through November 15 at $473,265,435. This analysis was originally published with The Intercept. 

This has been a constantly evolving situation, with new deployments and changing details. Needless to say, if deployments hit more cities, go on longer, or more troops are deployed, costs will grow. 

Methodology

Our basic methodology for estimating these costs is:

  1. Where official or otherwise reputable total costs have been reported or projected, we use those figures.
  2. Where no cost estimates have been reported, we use the dates and/or length of deployment, reports of the number of troops, and an assumed cost per day, per troop, to estimate the cost of the deployment.

When we’ve estimated the cost of deployment, we use:

  1. The date of deployment, as determined by official White House announcements and/or news reports, combined with the announced length of deployment (e.g. 60 days) and/or reported end dates (e.g. November 30).
  2. Where there is no announced end date or length of deployment (for example, in Memphis), we estimate costs of deployment through November 15, 2025.
  3. Number of troops: These numbers may fluctuate, and there is no good source for point-in-time or average estimates of troops deployed over time. We use widely reported figures for each city, and where there are known to be different phases of deployment, we differentiate as much as possible.
  4. We assume a cost of $647 per troop, per day where we have no better information. Based on other publicly released figures (and as described more below), the reported costs for current deployments range from about $647 to more than $1,800 per troop, per day. This cost depends on a range of factors including housing and food costs, troop pay, equipment costs, and demobilization and administrative costs. Very little is publicly known about each of these factors for the specific deployments now underway. The figure we use, $647 per troop per day, is at the low end of this range. It was derived from reporting by The Intercept that found the typical deployment cost for 500 National Guard soldiers for a period of 60 days is approximately $323,333.00 per day, or $647 per troop per day.

The Total Cost of Trump’s National Guard Deployments: $473,265,435

We estimate the cumulative cost of deploying the National Guard to all five cities through November 15 is approximately $473,265,435. The majority of this figure comes from the deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C, both of which have reported total spending that covers the lion’s share of each city’s deployment.

We include costs for the deployments for Portland and Chicago, each of which have had troops near at hand but not fully deployed due to court challenges. We have no information on how the costs of deployment for idle troops may differ from the cost for troops actively patrolling city streets, but each of these estimates are relatively small, and any error would be even smaller.

Below, we break down our findings for each city where troops have been deployed.

D.C. Deployment Cost:  $269,970,200

National Guard troops patrol the Mall in Washington, D.C. (Shutterstock)

Reported cost of the D.C. National Guard deployment through November 30, plus estimated costs of supplemental troops deployed from other states through November 15, 2025.

Original deployment date: August 11

  • Status: Ongoing.
  • Expected end date / duration: February 2026 or longer.
  • Number of troops: 958 D.C. National Guard through November 30, plus 1,300 National Guard troops from other states with no end date known.
  • Cost: $201,000,000 projected costs for D.C. National Guard through November 30; plus an estimated $68,970,200 for 1,300 National Guard from other states from Aug. 25-Nov. 15.
  • Cost per day, per troop: $647 for National Guard troops from other states.

The number of troops and cost for the D.C. National Guard deployment was reported by USA Today. The number of National Guard troops in D.C. from other states appears to have been relatively consistent since August 25. It was reported as 1,300 on August 25, 1,340 on September 17, and “about 1,500” on October 24. We use 1,300 for our calculations.

Los Angeles Deployment Cost: $172,005,700

California National Guard troops in Los Angeles (Shutterstock)

Reported cost of the completed original deployment plus estimated ongoing costs of deployment through November 15, 2025.

  • Original deployment date: June 7.
  • Status: Ongoing, with a smaller number of troops.
  • End date/ duration: Unknown.
  • Number of troops: 4,200 National Guard and 700 Marines for 60 days, then 300 troops (dates uncertain), currently 100 California National Guard.
  • Cost: $170,000,000 reported by The Intercept for the deployment through mid-October; plus an estimated $2,005,700 for the ongoing deployment of 100 National Guard from Oct. 15-Nov. 15.
  • Cost per day, per troop: Assumed continued $647/day for ongoing 100-troop deployment.

Portland Deployment Cost:  $14,985,135

Demonstrators protest the deployment of ICE and National Guard Guard troops to Portland. (Shutterstock)

Reported cost of the Oregon National Guard deployment for 60 days, plus estimated costs of California National Guard through November 15.

We don’t know how legal challenges may affect these costs, but even if troops are not active on city streets, they still incur costs while deployed.

Chicago Deployment Cost:  $12,810,600

Demonstrators protest the deployment of ICE and National Guard troops to Chicago. (Shutterstock)

Estimated costs of Illinois National Guard and Texas National Guard deployments through November 15.

  • Original deployment date: October 4.
  • Status: Ongoing / legal challenges.
  • Expected end date/ duration: 60 days for Illinois troops; unknown for Texas troops.
  • Number of troops: at least 300 Illinois troops; 200 Texas National Guard.
  • Cost: $8,152,200 for 300 Illinois troops from October 4 through November 15; plus $4,658,400 for 200 Texas troops from October 10 through November 15.
  • Cost per day, per troop: assumed $647

We don’t know how legal challenges may affect these costs, but even if troops are not active on city streets, they still incur costs while deployed.

Memphis Deployment Cost: $3,493,800

National Guard troops patrol Memphis. (Getty Images)

Estimated cost of deployment through November 15.

  • Original deployment date: October 10.
  • Status: Ongoing.
  • Expected end date / duration: Unknown.
  • Number of troops: 150 Tennessee National Guard through November 15 or longer.
  • Cost: $3,493,800.
  • Cost per day, per troop: assumed $647.