US President Donald Trump said he was withdrawing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland after a series of legal setbacks over his military deployments in US cities.
The Republican president sent troops to the three cities led by Democrats for what he said was a crackdown on illegal immigration and crime in the first year of his second term in the White House.
Local leaders criticized the measures as going authoritarian too far and launched a series of legal challenges, with the U.S. Supreme Court blocking the deployment in Chicago last week.
“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, and ONLY because of that fact,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said the three cities would have “gone if the federal government didn’t intervene.”
“We will be back, perhaps in a very different and stronger form, when crime starts to rise again – just a matter of time!” Trump added.
Legal issues for Trump’s deployment
Judges overseeing lawsuits filed by cities challenging the deployment have consistently ruled that the Trump administration has overstepped its authority and found there is no evidence to support claims that troops are needed to protect federal property from protesters.
Trump’s announcement came shortly before a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that his administration must return hundreds of California National Guard troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s control.
The U.S. Supreme Court on December 23 blocked Trump’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois, a ruling that undermined his legal grounds for sending soldiers to other states.
The court said the president’s authority to take federal control of National Guard troops likely applies only in “exceptional” circumstances.
“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would enable the military to enforce Illinois laws,” the court majority said in an unsigned order.
Trump began deploying troops in June amid protests against his hardline immigration policies, including efforts to increase deportations.
He also sent troops to Washington DC and took control of the local police force in response to what he believed was rampant crime – although local crime statistics indicated otherwise – using his unique authority as president over the US capital.
Military officials have scaled back and scaled back deployments in recent months as the lawsuits have left them in limbo.
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