Washington, January 2, 2026 – The Europe Today: U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is withdrawing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, while warning in a social media post that federal forces could return if crime rates rise.
Trump, a Republican, stated that the deployments in these cities—along with earlier deployments to Washington, D.C., Memphis, and other locations—were necessary to combat crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters. “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,” he wrote. 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!”
Local leaders and Democratic officials in the affected cities have criticized the deployments as unnecessary, accusing the Trump administration of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated incidents of violence to justify sending troops. Courts have repeatedly ruled against the administration, finding no evidence that the National Guard was needed to protect federal property from protesters.
Trump’s announcement came shortly before a federal appellate court ordered the return of hundreds of California National Guard troops to the control of Governor Gavin Newsom. The U.S. Supreme Court had blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois on December 23, ruling that presidential authority to assume federal control of state troops applies only in “exceptional” circumstances. The court noted that the administration had “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
Reacting to Trump’s decision, Newsom’s office remarked that the legal challenges compelled the administration to end the deployments, calling the president’s statement “the political version of ‘you can’t fire me, I quit.’” Similarly, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson highlighted city crime statistics for 2025, noting the lowest level of violent crime in more than a decade, with a 21.3% decrease from 2024.
Trump began deploying troops in June amid protests against his hardline immigration policies and claims of rising crime. Military officials have gradually scaled back the deployments in recent months as litigation left the operations in legal uncertainty.
