On September 2, President Donald Trump told reporters he would deploy National Guard troops to Chicago but didn’t say when. On September 27, Trump announced on a Truth Social post that he would send “all necessary Troops” to Portland. Since these announcements, the Trump administration has faced many difficulties with sending the National Guard. Many of the state and local governments are upset with his decisions, and are suing the Trump administration.
Trump is choosing to send the National Guard because he said he feels an obligation to send the troops to these cities to protect them. According to ABC News, “Trump pointed to gun violence in the city over Labor Day weekend as a reason for federal intervention. He said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, should be requesting his administration’s help.” Trump stated to reporters that, “If the governor of Illinois would call up, call me up, I would love to do it. Now, we’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country.”
The governor of Illinois and other officials don’t seem to share the same views about Chicago as the president. Pritzker, Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson, and other local officials emphasized to ABC News that there is no “emergency” unfolding in Chicago that would justify such a move, with Pritzker saying it’s all “a big show” on Trump’s part.
Both Portland officials and Oregon officials are also upset with Trump’s decisions. The City of Portland and the State of Oregon are fighting the order in court. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, according to Portland government’s website, states “the deployment was ‘not acceptable’ and did not meet the legal necessary requirements, since there is no invasion and no insurrection.”
On October 5, a federal judge appointed by Trump in 2019 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending any National Guard troops to Portland. According to NPR, the Karin Immergut “blocked the Trump administration from deploying any federalized National Guard units to Oregon, including hundreds of out-of-state soldiers. It came hours after the government dispatched California National Guard members to Oregon.”
Illinois soon joined in with Oregon by also suing the Trump administration. They wanted a judge to ban sending troops from any other states to Illinois. “The deployment of federalized national guard troops into Illinois will cause great and immediate harm,” the filing reads, according to NPR.
Other states in the United States are more on board with Trump’s plans. NPR states that at the beginning of the month, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he had authorized the deployment of 400 Texas National Guard members at Trump’s request.” Trump has said he also wants to send troops to Memphis, which Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee supports.
If Trump does succeed in sending the National Guard to these cities, it will not be the first time. Earlier this year, the Trump administration sent National Guard members to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Trump chose to send the military because of the protests that erupted due to agitated feelings about ICE.
