Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area


What happened
The Texas National Guard began operations in the Chicago area Wednesday night, the Pentagon said, as about 1,000 demonstrators marched down Michigan Avenue to protest the deployment and the aggressive, sometimes violent, federal immigration operations around the city. Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump said on social media that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) “should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers,” echoing a claim from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Who said what
“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested,” Johnson said on social media. “I’m not going anywhere.” In an interview on MSNBC, Pritzker called Trump a “wannabe dictator,” adding: “If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.”
Roughly 500 National Guard troops — 200 from Texas, 300 from Illinois — are gathered at a military base outside Chicago, and their mission isn’t clear. Pritzker said nobody had informed him what they will be doing. A U.S. Northern Command spokesperson said Wednesday night the Guard members had begun “actively protecting federal personnel and property.” White House spokespeople have frequently suggested the troops will help fight violent crime, but Trump and Noem have described the Guard deployments as aimed at furthering the administration’s less-popular mass deportation effort.
What next?
A federal judge has blocked Trump’s Guard deployment to Portland, and the president’s push to send troops into unwilling cities “will be further tested in two court hearings” today, Reuters said. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will review Trump’s challenge to the Portland order, and a federal judge in Illinois will decide whether to bar troops from Chicago.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Could air traffic controllers help end the government shutdown?
Today’s Big Question The controllers were crucial in ending the last shutdown in 2019
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace plan
Speed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
October 9 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include common political ground over the Epstein files, a new pledge for ICE agents, Bad Bunny, and more
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US