Hello and welcome to the most recent developments in US politics. We begin with the report that a small number of National Guard troops has begun guarding federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Deployment Details
An element of two hundred Texas military personnel 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 troops are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The troops, 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 quickly provide details about how the troops were armed.
Political Context
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment 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.
"The city's mayor should be in prison for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments come as state military forces have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.
Additional Developments
- Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and detained persons.
- 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 Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect explanation of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
- All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "political discussion" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called political content creators. The influencers report on leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of killings by political activists in Portland is: one.
