Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An element of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been officially released.
The troops are in the urban area to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
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 military command and have been deployed for two months. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.
Political Context
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker 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.
Additional Developments
- The president declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
- News of the Middle East deal was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" organized by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as political content creators. The influencers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to opposition research than neutral journalism.
- GOP senators voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's authority to use deadly military force against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's extraordinary use of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of killings by political activists in Portland is: one.
