Jeff Landry’s request comes as crime trends analyst says New Orleans has had fewest murders since 1970

The Donald Trump-supporting Republican governor of Louisiana has asked for national guard troops to be deployed to New Orleans and other cities through fiscal year 2026, saying Monday that the state needs help fighting crime and praising the president’s decision to send the military to Washington DC and Memphis.

Governor Jeff Landry asked for the Trump administration to support an extended deployment of 1,000 troops in a letter sent to the Pentagon’s top official, Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the national guard to fight crime.

Preliminary data from the New Orleans police department shows that there had been 75 homicides so far in 2025 – including 14 who were killed on New Year’s Day when a terrorist aimed a truck attack on Bourbon Street. There were 124 homicides in 2024. In 2023, there were 193.