Greetings and welcome to the most recent updates in US politics. We start with the news that a small number of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement 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 spoke to 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 protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The forces, 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 Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer details about how the personnel were equipped.
Background Situation
It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks coincide with state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the federal administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.
Other Updates
- The president announced that Hamas and Israel have accepted a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and free captured individuals and detained persons.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate 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 "antifa roundtable" organized by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation 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 Democrats tried to counter the administration's unprecedented deployment of the military to destroy boats 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 murdered by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of killings by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.
