The Donald Trump administration’s expanding use of the military for urban “occupation” and protest suppression now carries a multi-city price tag approaching $473 million—raising legal, fiscal and civil-liberties alarms.
The cost of deploying U.S. military and National Guard forces into American cities under President Donald Trump’s domestic security strategy has surged toward half a billion dollars, according to a detailed estimate from the non-partisan National Priorities Project (NPP).
Among the most expensive deployments:
- Approximately $172 million for the June occupation of Los Angeles.
- Around $270 million for the August federal takeover of Washington, D.C., with daily costs exceeding $1 million.
- Smaller deployments in other municipalities—such as Portland, Memphis and Chicago—also add millions more to the total.
