Tyrone Siu/Reuters via CNN NewsourceBy Aleena Fayaz(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s sweeping deployment of National Guard troops to several major cities across the United States cost taxpayers approximately $496 million from June through December last year, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. “The American people deserve to know how many hundreds of millions of their hard-earned dollars have been and are being wasted on Trump’s reckless and haphazard deployment of National Guard troops to Portland and cities across the country,” Merkley said in a statement Wednesday. It must end.”The CBO estimate covers National Guard and active-duty Marine Corps deployments to Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Memphis; Portland; and Chicago. Using data from the Defense Department’s 2025 budget, the CBO estimates that National Guard members are compensated approximately $95,000 per person per year because they receive the same rate as those in the military’s active component. Trump has described the deployments as a potential “training ground” for the military.