What are DC's soldiers actually doing?

Crime-fighting role has been far smaller than advertised.

One Essential Read One Essential Read Recommended by Kate Turton, Newsletter Editor Trump put thousands of soldiers on D.C.’s streets. They seldom stop crime   Members of the National Guard walk past the USDepartment of Labor, in Washington, D.C. January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein For today's recommended read, Reuters reviewed every publicly available charging document filed in Superior Court and interviewed lawyers, residents and service members to gauge the impact of the roughly 4,500 soldiers currently deployed to the nation's capital. This after President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last summer in an effort to combat crime. Every day, small clots of soldiers in camouflage and body armor patrol tourist-heavy areas of the US ‌capital. But since their arrival last August, the National Guard soldiers Trump ordered to Washington have been mentioned in only a tiny fraction — about 1.3% — of the criminal cases filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In dozens of cases, the soldiers appear not as people making the arrests but as victims of crime. Read the full article   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters One Essential Read is sent three days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036