(NewsNation) — The Trump administration is developing a plan that would create a “civil unrest reaction force” composed of National Guard troops that would quickly deploy to American cities facing protests or other unrest, according to a recent report.
First reported by The Washington Post, documents show that the plan calls for 600 troops to be on standby at all times so they can deploy in as little as one hour. They would be split into two groups of 300 and stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona, within the scope of regions east and west of the Mississippi River.
The cost of the plan outlined in the documents suggests that it could be hundreds of millions of dollars if approved. The cost would only be higher if military aircraft and air crews were needed but less expensive if not.
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The DOD plan comes as President Donald Trump put police in Washington, D.C., under federal control and deployed the National Guard to the area.
“The Department of Defense is a planning organization and routinely reviews how the department would respond to a variety of contingencies across the globe,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement to NewsNation. “We will not discuss these plans through leaked documents, pre-decisional or otherwise.”
Former deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh criticized the plan in a post on social platform X, saying, “Our military is already stretched thin & we’re losing sight of the threats from our real adversaries. Keep our forces focused & ready for the fights that matter most.”
