President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he is pulling National Guard troops from three deep blue cities.
“We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in.”
The president said that the withdrawal is not permanent and that the troops will be redeployed depending on crime in the cities.
“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time! It is hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made???” he wrote.
The withdrawal comes after Trump’s efforts to reduce crime and protect federal immigration agents in major cities suffered a setback from the Supreme Court last week. The court denied Trump’s request to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out deportation operations in the city.
“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” an unsigned order from the court said.
“[Trump] activated the National Guard to protect federal law enforcement officers, and to ensure rioters did not destroy federal buildings and property,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said at the time. “Nothing in today’s ruling detracts from that core agenda.”
ICE agents under Trump have faced a skyrocketing number of attacks and threats. The Department of Homeland Security reported that ICE agents have faced a 1,000% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats.