(Washington) Donald Trump announced Wednesday to withdraw the National Guard from Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles, after a series of legal setbacks concerning the legality of the deployment of this army reserve unit.
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“Crime has been considerably reduced” in these cities, assured the American president on his Truth Social network, announcing the withdrawal. “We will come back, perhaps in a different and stronger form, when crime starts to rise again-it’s only a matter of time!” “, he added.
In recent weeks, the deployment of National Guard troops had been blocked by the Supreme Court in Chicago and by federal judges in Los Angeles and Portland.
For several months, Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of national guards in these Democratic cities, as well as in Memphis, to fight crime and to support immigration police.
These deployments of soldiers, trained to respond to natural disasters in the United States but who can also fight abroad, have been challenged in court by its opponents. The Democrats denounced an authoritarian maneuver exceeding the limits of presidential power – the National Guard of each state is under the dual supervision of the president and the local governor.
PHOTO RICHARD VOGEL, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
California National Guard soldiers in front of the federal building in downtown Los Angeles during a “No Kings” protest, June 14, 2025.
“It is hard to believe that these Democratic mayors and governors, all of them very incompetent, want us gone, especially given the tremendous progress that has been made? ? ? », insisted Donald Trump on Wednesday.
On December 23, the Supreme Court ruled, however, that the government had not provided a legal basis justifying its deployment in Chicago, which is only authorized under American law in exceptional circumstances.
The Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law, prohibits the use of military personnel to carry out law enforcement operations.
“Illegal intimidation tactic”
As early as mid-December, the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of some of the soldiers sent to Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago.
But the National Guard retained a residual presence in these cities and the legal standoff continued, particularly in California, where a judge ordered in mid-December that control of the National Guard be returned to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
The Trump administration had appealed, but the Supreme Court’s recent decision appeared to complicate its chances of winning the case.
PHOTO ADRIANO MACHADO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Wednesday morning, a few hours before the presidential post, she made a first step back, renouncing her request to maintain control of the National Guard while the appeal took its course.
“This admission by Trump and the secret members of his cabinet means that this illegal intimidation tactic will finally end,” rejoiced Governor Newsom, a very vocal opponent of the president who is positioning himself as a possible opponent for the 2028 election.
“For six months, California National Guard troops were used as political pawns by a president desperate to become king,” added California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement.
“There is a reason why our founders decided that military and civilian affairs should be separated; a reason why our army is, by design, apolitical,” he said, welcoming the latest legal developments.
“Although our rule of law remains threatened, our democratic institutions hold strong,” he concluded.
