Trump says pulling National Guard from three cities -- for now
The Republican had sent troops into several cities run by Democrats during his first year back in power, in what he called a crackdown on illegal immigration and crime.
Local leaders slammed the moves as authoritarian overreach and launched a string of successful legal challenges, with the US Supreme Court last week blocking the Chicago deployment.
"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 said on his Truth Social network.
In the message on New Year's Eve, Trump said the three cities "were GONE if it weren't for the Federal Government stepping in."
"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again -- Only a question of time!" Trump added.
Trump's deployments of National Guard troops have been a centerpiece of his hardline policies on immigration and crime since returning to the White House in January.
The 79-year-old billionaire and former reality star has also sent the National Guard into the capital Washington and to Memphis, Tennessee, and threatened to send them to San Francisco.
But the Trump administration had already begun to pull some troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland in recent weeks as court judgments went against it.
"He lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said on X.
'Illegal intimidation tactic'
Los Angeles became the first city to have troops on the streets in June when Trump went over the heads of local Democratic leaders to order 4,000 National Guard reservists to put down protests over immigration raids.
Those local leaders said the relatively minor protests, which affected only a few blocks in America's second largest metropolis, could easily be handled by city, county and state law enforcement.
On December 10, a federal judge ordered Trump's administration to end the Los Angeles deployment and return control of the soldiers to California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Most had already been demobilized, with the US military saying 100 Guard troops remained deployed at the time.
Hours before Trump's announcement, Newsom said the administration had formally stopped opposing the federal court's ruling on the troops. An appellate court made it official, ruling that the lower court's order to return control should move forward.
"This admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end," Newsom, who is widely seen as a likely Democratic contender for the presidency in 2028, said on X.
Trump meanwhile ordered military forces from Texas and California to Chicago and Portland in early October.
As of last week, some 300 National Guard troops remained activated in the Chicago area but were not engaged in operations.
A judge in November ruled the Portland deployment unlawful and ordered it permanently blocked.