Trump sent troops onto the streets of Democratic-led cities including Los Angeles and Washington, DC to quell allegedly out-of-control unrest, while court challenges blocked him from doing so in some other locations.
The deployments are set to cost tens of millions more per month this year.
"CBO estimates that those deployments...cost a total of approximately $496 million through the end of December 2025," its director Phillip Swagel wrote in response to a request from a top Democratic lawmaker.
At $223 million, the costliest deployment has been the one in Washington, DC, where there are still more than 2,600 National Guard personnel, followed by Los Angeles at $193 million, which saw a higher peak number of troops but for a shorter duration.
The cost of future deployments is "highly uncertain, mainly because the scale, length, and location of such deployments are difficult to predict accurately," Swagel wrote.
If current deployments are continued, "that cost would range from about $6 million a month for 350 personnel in New Orleans, to $28 million a month for 1,500 personnel in Memphis, to $55 million a month" for those in Washington, he added.
In addition to domestic deployments, Trump has repeatedly employed military force outside the United States since returning to office for a second term a year ago.
In the Middle East, he ordered an air campaign against Yemen's Huthi rebels and strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Closer to home, US forces have targeted alleged drug-smuggling vessels off South America and seized the leader of Venezuela and his wife.
Fatal shooting by US officers in Minneapolis 'concerning': UK's Starmer
Beijing (AFP) Jan 28, 2026 -
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the death of an American man at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis as "concerning" on Wednesday.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was shot and killed by US immigration officers on Saturday during a protest. Several videos show officers opening fire on him while he was on the ground.
The shooting sparked bipartisan condemnation in the United States and protests in Minneapolis, capping months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified and heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents have grabbed people suspected of violating immigration laws off the streets.
"I haven't seen all of the details, but what I have seen is obviously concerning," Starmer told reporters aboard a plane bound for China, where he arrived Wednesday for an official visit.
Pretti was carrying a firearm for which he held a permit, but no video shows him with the weapon in his hand.
"I don't think anybody could see some of the footage and not say it's concerning, but I'm not claiming to have seen all the footage and all the detail, but of what I have seen, I'd say it's concerning," Starmer said.
Pretti's death occurred less than three weeks after that of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother-of-three who was shot and killed on January 7 in Minneapolis by an ICE agent.
Facing outrage over Pretti's death and his administration's initial comments blaming the victim for the incident, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would "de-escalate a little bit" in the city.
The president has also spoken with local Democratic authorities, and a portion of the 3,000 federal agents dispatched to Minneapolis is expected to leave the city soon.
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