🔗 Share this article

Hello and welcome to the latest developments in American political affairs. We start with the news that a small number of National Guard troops has begun guarding government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Troop Information

An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were operating in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on background basis in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The military personnel are in the urban area to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the military command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the troops were armed.

Political Context

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"

Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the federal administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump declared that Hamas and Israel have accepted a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and free captured individuals and detained persons.
• Reports about the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans voted down a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.