A federal court ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump acted illegally by deploying thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, DC to bolster domestic security, a measure that lasted for several months in the US capital.

District Judge Jia Cobb concluded that the intervention, ordered from the White House under the pretext of fighting the crime, violates the Constitution and exceeds presidential powers. According to the ruling, the president can only mobilize the National Guard when there is a specific legal basis provided for in current regulations, and not for indeterminate or discretionary reasons.

A massive and questioned deployment

In August, Trump declared a state of emergency due to violence in Washington and ordered the deployment of more than 2,300 National Guard troops from the District of Columbia and eight additional states. The troops were placed under the command of the Secretary of the Army, in coordination with federal agents sent to reinforce patrols in the city.

The deployment created tensions between the federal government and the local administration.

The District of Columbia's Attorney General, Brian Schwalb, filed a lawsuit demanding that the White House be prohibited from mobilizing troops without authorization from the mayor's office. Schwalb's office alleged that federal forces were acting as military police, interfering with the work of civilian law enforcement agencies and undermining local authority: "Every day this illegal incursion continues, the District suffers damage to its sovereign authority to conduct local law enforcement as it sees fit," the attorney general's legal team warned. Trump's defense: a necessary measure. Justice Department lawyers responded that Congress had granted the president the power to exercise control over the District of Columbia National Guard and characterized the lawsuit as a politically motivated attempt that could jeopardize progress in reducing crime.

“There is no sensible reason to issue a court order undoing this agreement now,” the government's defense argued.

Judge sets limits on presidential power

In her 61-page decision, Judge Cobb noted that the president cannot invoke broad and unlimited authority to deploy troops to the capital, and stressed that accepting that argument would “erase the role of Congress in the government of the District and its National Guard.”

Furthermore, the ruling establishes that the Pentagon also lacked the authority to send an additional 1,000 troops from other states without the corresponding legal authorization.

Although the judge ordered the deployment to be halted, the measure is suspended for 21 days, allowing the Trump administration to file an appeal.

The ruling is issued in parallel with other active cases related to similar operations by the former president in cities such as Portland, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where federal courts are also examining the limits of the use of military forces to public order functions.