Trump backs away from deploying national guard in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland | US military
Donald Trump has made a precipitous decline from his attempts to deploy federal troops to law enforcement in Democratic-run cities, announcing on Wednesday that he is ending attempts to deploy them from Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.
The unexpected change came after justice department lawyers said they would no longer appeal a California court decision that placed the National Guard under the authority of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom. It also followed a rare rebuke from the US supreme court, which blocked the White House’s efforts to send the national guard to Illinois.
In a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump attempted to portray the decision as temporary, promising redeployment at a later date and insisting the initiative was successful.
“We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME is greatly reduced by the presence of these great Patriots in these cities, and ONLY by that fact,” he wrote.
“If the Federal Government had not stepped in, Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago would be GONE. Maybe we will come back much different and stronger when crime starts to rise again – It’s just a matter of time!”
But there seemed little doubt that the latest move meant a retreat. Earlier Wednesday, Newsom welcomed the ruling, announced in a Justice Department filing with the ninth circuit court of appeals, and backed away from Trump’s claim that he had the right to bring state National Guard troops under his authority indefinitely.
“This admission from Trump and his secret cabinet members means this illegal scare tactic will finally come to an end.” wrote Newsom, who has been vocal and forceful against the deployments on the streets of Los Angeles.
Trump first ordered members of the National Guard to enter the city last June in response to protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The deployment has faced a number of legal challenges, with Newsom arguing that the situation did not justify the presence of federal forces and that Trump had exceeded his authority.
Earlier this month, a lower court ruled that Trump illegally seized control of members of the National Guard and ordered them to return to state authority. Management initially objected to this decision.
The change of direction marked the second setback in a week in Trump’s quest to federalize national guard units to quell demonstrations of opposition to his highly contentious immigration policies, which he and other administration figures have portrayed as violent riots.
Last week, US supreme court issues rare rebuke by refusing to allow the administration to deploy the national guard in Chicago — a move opposed by the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, both Democrats.
Trump’s announcement casts doubt on the future of national guard deployments in other Democratic-run cities, including Washington, D.C. new orleans350 soldiers were expected to arrive by New Year’s Eve.
Troops have been deployed in Washington, D.C., since last August to counter a so-called “crime wave.” On November 26, a national guard was killed and another was seriously injured when he was shot by a gunman in front of a metro station in the city.
The incident led to an increase in the number of security guards assigned to Washington and an intensification of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric after it was revealed that the suspected attacker was an Afghan citizen who was granted political asylum in the United States. More than 2,000 troops have been deployed in Washington, D.C., since August, many recruited from at least 11 Republican-led states.
A federal appeals court ruled this month that the soldiers can stay while a panel of judges determines whether their deployment is legal. A lower court had previously ruled that they should be removed.
