Twenty-seven members of the Hawaiʻi National Guard arrived in Washington D.C. on July 6, and now Gov. Josh Green is facing calls to bring them back home.
They were deployed to provide support in the nation’s capital for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
HPR spoke with Green to learn more about why they were sent and when they’ll be recalled.
Green also spoke about how Hawaiʻi is faring under the economic impacts of the Iran war and his role as the recently selected chair of the Western Governors’ Association.
Interview Highlights
On deploying the Hawaiʻi National Guard in Washington, D.C.
GOV. JOSH GREEN: We humbly allowed 27 volunteers to go to D.C. to work on the America 250 project, not to be a part of immigration enforcement, not to be a part of the D.C. police operations, but just to be a part of celebrating this country. And they'll come back, I believe, sometime around Labor Day at the end of August when those celebrations are finished.
You know, I know that there were people that are worried about that. I just have to say this: our National Guard's been great dealing with our disasters here. They dealt with the storms, you know, the terrible rainfall. They dealt with the wildfire, and some of them have been deployed to Iran. … This was a one-off because you only have a 250th birthday one time, and so again, you know I think people love controversy and they love to suggest things that aren't really reality. We don't support with our values any of the immigration policing. That's not who I am. That's not who the state is, but we do support the country.
On the impact of the Iran war on Hawaiʻi
GREEN: The persistent high gas prices are the easiest indicator to assess. We're probably all paying an extra dollar a gallon when we go to the pumps, and that's terrible. You know, the impact that I worry about is any of our soldiers being in harm's way, or any civilians that may perish in the region; those kind of circumstances are just out of, you know, out of control, and they're awful. I want this war to end completely, and I'd like us to have a thoughtful diplomatic future there with Iran. … The longer this goes, the more inflation you'll see. Eventually, it will have a ramification for everything, whether people want to be buying a new house or refinancing, you know, next year, whether they feel that they can afford that extra $1,000 for their kids' books in college. All those things will be affected by the persistent difficulties that we have with the supply chain and the price of fuel, so the war's got to end.
On reaching across the aisle as chair of the Western Governors’ Association
GREEN: It's not difficult for me to convey ideas without a truly ideological bent. When I talk to some of my more conservative and Republican governor friends, I talk about return on investment. I talk about how when we've housed people, their costs are significantly lower. I don't know if that will ultimately be reflected in the audit that's been spoken about a little bit, but it is very real.
People's costs drop by about 70% if they're not in and out of the emergency department because they're homeless. And when I tell that to my red state governor friends, they appreciate that. I think everybody appreciates a decrease in suffering. The more liberal governors like to talk about housing as a human right, but it also has the same impact. People suffer less, they don't die on the streets, and they don't cost a lot going in and out of the healthcare system. So that's just one example of many. But I got nominated for a reason, and that's because it is helpful to bridge some of these gaps.
This story aired on The Conversation on July 16, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
