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President Donald Trump has announced the withdrawal of National Guard troops from multiple US cities, notably Chicago and Los Angeles, following a Supreme Court ruling that limited his executive authority to use military forces for domestic policing. This decision comes after the administration dropped its legal challenge to maintain control over troops in Los Angeles on Tuesday, a move prompted by last week’s Supreme Court verdict involving similar deployments in Chicago.
Trump's statement also mentioned Portland, Oregon, but not Washington DC, where troops remain on patrol.
"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again," Trump wrote on Truth Social on New Year's Eve.
Trump's decision to order the deployment of National Guard troops to Democratic-run cities set off a series of legal cases challenging his authority to do so. The troops are normally under the authority of state governors.
Hundreds of troops had been sent to Chicago and Portland, but had not yet been assigned to patrol city streets, as the legal challenges played out in court. Trump has said the troops are needed to enforce the law and crackdown on crime and illegal immigration. Critics deny that the troops are necessary, and accuse Trump of attempting an "authoritarian" crackdown, which threatens democracy.
The Supreme Court ruled last week in Trump v Illinois that the president did not have the authority to send troops into Chicago.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration withdrew a legal motion in California, seeking to keep the troops under Trump's control.
California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the move, posting on X: "This admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end."
He said Trump's announcement of a troop withdrawal from US cities "is the political version of 'you can't fire me, I quit.'"
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the Supreme Court ruling last week, telling MS Now "there is at least another branch of government that recognises that the overreach by the president is a real threat to our democracy".
