Greetings and welcome to the latest updates in US politics. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has begun guarding government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Troop Information
An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Greater Chicago region, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.
The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, 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 information about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks coincide with state military forces have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Additional Developments
- The president declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and detained persons.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect explanation of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as political content creators. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- GOP senators voted down a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: one.
