Hello and welcome to the latest developments in American political affairs. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Troop Information
An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on background basis in order to reveal operational details that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
The forces, 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 five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for two months. 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 not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have begun arriving in the Chicago area at the direction of the Trump administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- Donald Trump announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and detained persons.
- News of the Middle East deal was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers report on liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than neutral journalism.
- GOP senators rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to oppose the administration's extraordinary use of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: one.
