Greetings and welcome to the latest developments in American political affairs. We start with the news that a small number of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been officially released.
The troops are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.
The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the military command and have been deployed for two months. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks come as state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- The president declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During presidential gathering, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
- All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the administration's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- 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 Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
