Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, who has denied crime is out of control in her city, described the troop deployment as an "authoritarian push". Trump, a Republican, has also threatened similar deployments against New York and Chicago, two other Democratic-controlled cities.

The National Guard began to appear in Washington, DC, tonight, a day after President Donald Trump placed the nation’s capital’s police department “under direct federal control.” Follow for live news updates.

National Guard troops are arriving in Washington after President Donald Trump announced on Monday that 800 National Guard troops would be deployed as he declared a public safety emergency -- despite the city’s mayor noting violent crime is at a 30-year low.