Trump to Deploy 300 National Guard Troops in Illinois

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker confirmed that the administration of US President Donald Trump plans to deploy 300 members of the National Guard in Illinois under federal control, marking another escalation in the president’s use of federal power to intervene in American cities.

The move came on the same day a similar deployment of 200 National Guard troops in Oregon was temporarily halted after a federal judge ruled that Trump had likely exceeded his legal authority in responding to relatively small-scale protests near a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland.

Trump has repeatedly described cities such as Portland and Chicago as centers of crime and unrest, referring to Portland as a “war zone” and implying that a strong military presence is needed to suppress disorder in Chicago.

Since the start of his second term, he has either deployed or discussed deploying troops to ten cities, including Baltimore (Maryland), Memphis (Tennessee), Washington D.C., New Orleans (Louisiana), and several Californian cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

However, the governors of Illinois and Oregon have taken a strong stance against these actions.

Governor Pritzker stated, “Earlier this morning, Trump’s Department of War issued an ultimatum: recall your troops, or we’ll do it ourselves. It is utterly outrageous and un-American to demand that a governor deploy military forces within our borders and against our will.”

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek also opposed the decision, saying after speaking with Trump in late September that such a deployment was unnecessary. When she refused to call up National Guard units, Trump issued a direct order through Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, prompting state and city officials to file a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive instructing all Justice Department agencies, including the FBI, to assist in protecting ICE facilities across the country, particularly in Chicago and Portland, amid growing tensions over federal intervention in local affairs.