Hello and welcome to the latest updates in US politics. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Troop Information
An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Greater Chicago region, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.
The troops are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.
The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to immediately offer 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 not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- The president announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "political discussion" organized by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to oppose the government's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
