After legal setbacks, US President Donald Trump said he was suspending his efforts to deploy National Guard forces to Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, the Associated Press reported.
“We’ll be back, maybe in a much different and stronger form, when crime starts to rise again – only a matter of time!” he said in a post on social media on Wednesday.
National Guard units are usually under the authority of state governors, but Trump sent troops to all three cities despite opposition from Democratic state and local officials. He argued that the move was needed as part of a wider effort to fight immigration, crime and protests.
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The president has made a crackdown on urban crime a centerpiece of his second term – and has toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to prevent his opponents from using the courts to block his plans. He said he sees his tough-on-crime approach as a winning political theme ahead of next year’s midterm elections, the AP reported.
Troops have already withdrawn from Los Angeles after the president sent them there earlier this year as part of a broader effort to fight crime and immigration.
In his post, Trump said the presence of troops was responsible for the drop in crime in the three cities, although they were never on the streets in Chicago and Portland because of legal issues. When the Chicago deployment was challenged in court, a Justice Department lawyer said the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal property and government agents in the field, not to “solve all crime in Chicago.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office said in a statement that the reduction in crime in the city was due to the efforts of local police and public safety programs. Chicago officials echoed that sentiment, saying Tuesday that the city had 416 homicides in 2025, the lowest since 2014.
Trump’s push to deploy troops in Democratic-led cities has met with legal challenges at almost every turn.
Governors are responding
In December, the Supreme Court refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area. The order was not a final decision, but it represented a significant and rare setback from the high court to the president’s efforts.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on Wednesday X that Trump “lost in court when Illinois opposed his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to resign.”
Hundreds of troops from California and Oregon were deployed to Portland, but a federal judge banned them from the streets. A judge permanently blocked the deployment of National Guard troops there in November after a three-day trial.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Wednesday that her office had not yet received “official notification that the remaining federalized units of the Oregon National Guard can return home. They were never legally deployed to Portland and their presence was not needed. If President Trump ultimately chooses to follow the court orders and demobilize our troops, it is a big win for Oregonians and for the government.”
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Trump’s decision to federalize the National Guard began in Los Angeles in June, when protesters took to the streets in response to a rash of immigration arrests in the area. He deployed about 4,000 soldiers and 700 marines to guard federal buildings and later protest federal agents as they conducted immigration arrests.
The number of soldiers slowly dwindled until there were only a few hundred of them left. They were removed from the streets on Dec. 15 following a lower court ruling that also ordered control to return to Gov. Gavin Newsom. But an appeals court stayed the second part of the order, meaning control remained with Trump. In a court filing Tuesday, the Trump administration said it is no longer seeking a stay on that part of the order.
“It’s time for (Trump) to admit defeat,” Newsom said in a social media post. “We’ve said it from day one: the federal takeover of the California National Guard is illegal.”
Troops will remain on the ground in several other cities. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December stayed a lower court ruling that called for an end to the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where they have been deployed since August after Trump declared a “crime emergency.”
Read also | Trump secures victory as D.C. Circuit Court allows National Guard to remain in capital
Trump also ordered the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard to Memphis in September as part of a larger federal crime-fighting task force, a move supported by the state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, and senators. A Tennessee judge blocked the use of the Guard, siding with Democratic state and local officials who sued.
A judge suspended the order to lock down the National Guard while the state appealed, allowing the deployment to continue.
We will be back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime starts to rise again – only a matter of time!
Meanwhile, about 350 National Guard troops sent by Trump arrived in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter on Tuesday and are expected to stay through Mardi Gras to help with public safety. The deployment has the support of the state’s Republican governor and the city’s Democratic mayor.
(With input from the Associated Press)
Key things
- Trump’s National Guard deployment has faced significant legal challenges, reflecting tensions between federal and state authorities.
- Local leaders attribute the reduction in crime to their efforts rather than the presence of federal troops.
- The situation highlights the political implications of crime policies ahead of the midterm elections.
