Hello and welcome to the latest updates in American political affairs. 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 element of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command said online.
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 activated for 60 days. The official wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
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.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's comments come as state military forces have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.
Additional Developments
- The president declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
- During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as political content creators. The content producers report on leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more similar to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
- Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party 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 one witness echoed Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been murdered by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
