President Trump pulls National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland following Supreme Court and federal court rulings against the deployments.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he was withdrawing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland.
The announcement follows a series of legal setbacks over his military deployments in US cities.
The Republican had sent troops into several cities run by Democrats during his first year back in power.
He described the move as a crackdown on illegal immigration and crime.
Local leaders slammed the deployments as authoritarian overreach and launched successful legal challenges.
The US Supreme Court last week blocked the Chicago deployment.
“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 said on his Truth Social network.
He added that the three cities “were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in.”
Trump said authorities would return “perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again.”
The deployments have been a centerpiece of his hardline policies on immigration and crime.
Trump has also sent the National Guard to Washington and Memphis, and threatened to send them to San Francisco.
The administration had already begun pulling some troops as court judgments went against it.
Los Angeles became the first city to have troops on the streets in June.
Trump ordered 4,000 National Guard reservists to put down protests over immigration raids.
Local leaders said the minor protests could easily be handled by existing law enforcement.
A federal judge ordered Trump’s administration to end the Los Angeles deployment on December 10.
Hours before Trump’s announcement, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the administration had stopped opposing the court’s ruling.
“This admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end,” Newsom said on X.
Trump ordered military forces to Chicago and Portland in early October.
As of last week, some 300 National Guard troops remained activated in the Chicago area but were not engaged in operations.
A judge in November ruled the Portland deployment unlawful and ordered it permanently blocked.
