Democratic leaders hail move as victory against federal overreach

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has announced the withdrawal of National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, following a series of legal defeats challenging his administration’s deployment of military forces in US cities.

The move comes after courts repeatedly ruled against the federal government, with the US Supreme Court last week blocking the deployment of troops in Chicago.

Trump had ordered the National Guard into several Democrat-run cities during his first year back in office, describing the move as a crackdown on illegal immigration and rising crime. Local leaders, however, condemned the deployments as authoritarian overreach and pursued legal action.

Trump Defends Decision

Announcing the withdrawal on his Truth Social platform on New Year’s Eve, Trump claimed the presence of National Guard troops had significantly reduced crime.

“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,” Trump said.

He warned that the federal government could intervene again if crime resurged.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again — only a question of time,” he added.

Court Rulings Force Stand-Down

Despite Trump’s claims, the administration had already begun pulling troops from the three cities in recent weeks as court rulings went against the deployments.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was compelled to retreat after losing in court.

“He lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarise American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down,” Pritzker said in a post on X.

Los Angeles became the first city to see troops deployed in June, when Trump bypassed state and local authorities to send around 4,000 National Guard reservists to respond to protests over immigration raids.

Local officials said the demonstrations were limited in scale and could be managed by existing law enforcement agencies.

Los Angeles Deployment Ends

On December 10, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to end the Los Angeles deployment and return control of the Guard to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

By the time of the ruling, most troops had already been demobilised, with the US military confirming that only 100 Guard members remained deployed.

Hours before Trump’s announcement, Governor Newsom said the administration had stopped opposing the court order. An appellate court later ruled that the decision to return control of the troops should proceed.

“This illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end,” Newsom said, adding that the withdrawal marked a major legal defeat for the administration.

Trump has also deployed National Guard troops to Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, and previously threatened similar actions in San Francisco.