Hello and welcome to the latest updates in US politics. We start with the report that a small number of National Guard troops has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Deployment Details
An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on background basis in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been made public.
The troops are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The forces, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's comments come as national guard troops have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Additional Developments
- Donald Trump declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution 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 highly incorrect definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called political content creators. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
- Senate Republicans rejected a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats 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 the Oregon city. The correct number of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
