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The Trump administration announced Saturday it will deploy 300 National Guard troops to Illinois, marking the latest flashpoint in a growing standoff between the White House and Democratic-led states over the president’s use of military forces to quell unrest in major cities.
“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like [Illinois Gov. JB] Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sharply condemned the move, revealing that the Defense Department informed him of plans to federalize and deploy the troops “within our borders and against our will.”
“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said. “I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people.”
According to Pritzker, Pentagon officials gave him an ultimatum to “call up your troops, or we will,” as tensions escalated over protests in Chicago and other Illinois cities.
The decision comes as Trump has for weeks threatened to send federal law enforcement and National Guard forces into Chicago, claiming local officials have failed to control violent crime and unrest.
Earlier Saturday, a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked a separate deployment of 200 National Guard troops to Portland, where Trump authorized a federal presence to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. Oregon officials and the city of Portland sued to stop the move, arguing that the protests there remain largely peaceful and that federal troops would only escalate tensions.
Caroline Turco, senior deputy city attorney for Portland, told U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut that the administration’s justification relied on distorted narratives. “The perception is that it is World War II out here,” Turco said. “The reality is that this is a beautiful city with a sophisticated resource that can handle the situation.”
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton countered that the Guard is necessary to protect ICE facilities from “cruel radicals who have laid siege,” citing isolated cases of incendiary devices and projectiles thrown at federal property.
Trump has already sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., this year — both moves later challenged in court. In September, a federal judge ruled that the deployment of Marines and Guardsmen to Los Angeles was illegal, while Washington, D.C., filed its own lawsuit over what city officials called an “unauthorized occupation.”
Despite legal challenges, Trump has continued to frame the deployments as part of a broader effort to “restore order” in what he calls “dangerous, Democrat-run cities.” He has also signed an executive order to create a National Guard task force based in Memphis, Tennessee, and suggested sending troops to Baltimore and New Orleans.
The president’s comments earlier this week reignited controversy when he told senior military officials, “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard.”
With Illinois now added to the list, the administration faces mounting legal and political backlash over what critics describe as an unprecedented use of federal military power against U.S. citizens.
