Administration confirms troops sent to Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago have been demobilized following court setbacks.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration has withdrawn federalized National Guard troops from several major U.S. cities, including Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to reporting by The Washington Post.
The deployments, ordered by President Donald Trump, had drawn opposition from state and local officials in the affected jurisdictions. Troops were sent home by Jan. 21, the newspaper reported.
While those federalized forces have been demobilized, National Guard members activated under Title 32 authority remain stationed in various locations nationwide. Approximately 2,500 troops continue serving in Washington, D.C., with additional personnel deployed to Memphis and New Orleans.
Title 32 status allows a governor to mobilize the National Guard with presidential authorization or direction. Troops operate under state command but receive federal pay and benefits.
The withdrawal follows months of legal disputes over the administration’s authority to deploy federalized Guard units for domestic purposes. In December, the Supreme Court declined to lift a lower court injunction blocking Trump’s attempt to send federalized National Guard troops into Chicago over objections from Illinois officials. Although the justices did not rule on the broader constitutional issues, their action left the lower court’s order intact.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Randy Manner, former acting vice chief of the National Guard, told the Post that statutory restrictions significantly limited what the troops could do once deployed. The forces were “100% ineffective at accomplishing what [Trump] wanted,” Manner said. “The administration ultimately realized the resistance — in the courts and in public condemnation — was far greater than anyone anticipated.”
U.S. Northern Command confirmed the troop withdrawal to Newsmax.
In early January, Trump publicly announced the decision to scale back the deployments.
“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 by that fact,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He added, “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!”
The withdrawal closes a contentious chapter in the administration’s effort to use federalized Guard forces in urban areas where state leaders opposed their presence, leaving remaining National Guard deployments primarily under state-controlled Title 32 authority.
Original article
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