Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the report that a small number of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Deployment Details
An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were operating in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on background basis in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been officially released.
The troops are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command said online.
The forces, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated 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 demanded the jailing 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 personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks come as state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the direction of the Trump administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.
Other Updates
- The president announced that the conflicting parties have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
- News of the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be given the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition 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 identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
- GOP senators voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to oppose the government's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The accurate count of killings by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.
