President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is, for now, abandoning plans to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland following a series of legal challenges that stalled the effort.
In a social media post, Trump said the deployments were being withdrawn temporarily. “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!” he wrote.
Troops withdrawn or never deployed
National Guard troops had already left Los Angeles, where they were deployed earlier this year as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on crime and immigration.
Troops were also sent to Chicago and Portland but were never deployed on city streets as court challenges moved forward. The proposed deployments, largely targeting Democrat-led cities, faced legal obstacles across multiple states.
Supreme Court and federal rulings
In December, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area as part of immigration enforcement efforts. While not a final ruling, the decision marked a setback for the administration.
In Washington, DC, Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit seeking to block the deployment of more than 2,000 National Guard troops.
State-level blocks in Oregon and California
In Oregon, a federal judge permanently barred the deployment of National Guard forces in the state.
In California, National Guard troops were removed from the streets of Los Angeles by December 15 following a court ruling. An appeals court later paused a separate requirement that control of the Guard be returned to Governor Gavin Newsom.
However, in a court filing on Tuesday, the Trump administration said it was no longer seeking to delay that aspect of the ruling, clearing the way for the California National Guard to return fully to state control after Trump federalised the force in June.
Future deployments not ruled out
Despite the legal setbacks, Trump indicated the decision was temporary and suggested the administration could revisit the deployments in the future if crime rates rise.
The White House has not announced any new timeline for renewed National Guard deployments.
