Greetings and welcome to the current developments in US politics. We begin with the report that a small number of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been made public.
The troops are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been deployed for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.
Other Updates
- Donald Trump announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
- News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
- All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "political discussion" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as political content creators. The influencers report on liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use deadly military force against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
