Hello and welcome to the most recent updates in US politics. We start with the news that a small number of state military forces has started protecting government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on background basis in order to discuss operational details that have not been officially released.
The military personnel are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties 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, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The official wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the personnel were equipped.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the Trump administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- The president declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- Reports about the Gaza agreement was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as political content creators. The influencers report on leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans rejected a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's ability to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been murdered by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
