Pentagon sending additional 1,500 troops to southern border: US official

The U.S. Pentagon is sending an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border by the end of the week, a senior U.S. military official told Fox News.

"This represents a 60% increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn-in Monday," acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement late Wednesday. Liz Friden is a Pentagon producer based in Washington, D.C.

There are already 2,500 U.S. service members stationed at the southern border. The troops were ordered there in May 2023 during the Biden administration under title 10 authorities, were approved by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and are planned to be in place until the end of FY2025, according to a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson. 

The 1,500 additional service members will be deployed to El Paso and San Diego, and are expected to arrive by the end of the week. A "couple hundred" were already en route, though it was not immediately known if they had yet arrived at their destinations.