National Guard members deployed in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore., will head home after President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is removing them from the cities.
In the president’s social media post via his Truth Social account, the announcement’s tone appeared reluctant, crediting a drop in crime in the cities following the presence of the National Guard members.
Trump claims the cities “were gone” before the federal government stepped in to cull crime, while warning he may send the National Guard back in.
“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!” the president wrote. “It’s hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made???”
The removal comes on the heels of last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, ruling that Trump can’t use the National Guard in Chicago to assist federal immigration enforcement.
The justices declined an emergency request from the administration to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Judge April Perry that temporarily blocked the deployment of troops.
“At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the majority wrote in an order.
The president’s controversial decision to deploy members of the National Guard has been met with resistance, especially in Chicago, with Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker leading attacks.
Trump’s use of National Guard members to crack down on crime began in August, following the president’s declaration of a crime emergency in Washington, D.C. While district leaders were initially resistant, they eventually acknowledged that the National Guard members patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital had improved crime rates.
Members of the National Guard remain present in the district, even after two guardsmen from West Virginia were shot, killing one on the eve of Thanksgiving mere blocks from the White House.
In September, Trump announced he was deploying the National Guard to Memphis at the request of Republican Gov. Bill Lee in an effort to crack down on crime, similar to the crime emergency in the district.
