Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the news that a small number of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Troop Information
An element of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Greater Chicago region, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command said online.
The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The official 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 imprisonment 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 Officers!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump's remarks come as state military forces have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.
Additional Developments
- Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- Reports about the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who called on Trump to be given the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "political discussion" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as political content creators. The content producers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness echoed Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in the Oregon city. The accurate count of killings by political activists in Portland is: one.
