Hello and welcome to the most recent developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a small number of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Deployment Details
An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been made public.
The troops are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command said online.
The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been activated for two months. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"The city's mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
- News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
- All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
- Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's authority to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.
