CNN
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US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will withdraw the national Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, but left open the possibility of sending federal forces “in a much different and stronger way.”
The announcement followed the US Supreme Court’s decision last week rejecting Trump’s request to deploy the National Guard in Chicago to protect ICE agents as part of his administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
The Supreme Court’s ruling indicated that a president’s authority to federalize the National Guard-permitted by federal law when “regular forces” are insufficient to enforce U.S. laws-does not extend to protecting agents enforcing immigration laws.
While this decision represented a setback for the administration’s immigration crackdown, it remained likely that Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy regular military forces in Chicago and other cities. Invoking this 19th-century law-a move repeatedly suggested by Trump and his advisors during the 2024 campaign and at the start of his second term-would grant him broad authority to bypass restrictions on military deployment within the country.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, welcomed Trump’s announcement, stating that the government had been using the National Guard as “political pawns” and characterizing Trump as “a president desperate to be king.”
“While our rule of law remains under threat, our democratic institutions remain strong,” Bonta wrote.”My office will not back down, and we are ready for any fight that comes.”
