🔗 Share this article

Hello and welcome to the most recent updates in American political affairs. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has started protecting government facilities in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Deployment Details

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Greater Chicago region, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details that have not been officially released.

The military personnel are in the urban area 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 300 from Illinois, had arrived 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 deployed for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, charging 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 comments come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and release captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be given the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" hosted by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called political content creators. The content producers report on leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• GOP senators voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: one.