Trump Withdraws National Guard From Three Cities After Supreme Court Setback

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is halting efforts to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago and Portland and ending the now-paused Los Angeles deployment after judicial setbacks.

The move pauses — at least for now — a signature second-term push to use federalized Guard troops to backstop immigration enforcement and anti-crime operations in Democrat-run cities, an effort that has repeatedly run into judges. (RELATED: Supreme Court Won’t Let Trump Deploy National Guard In Illinois)

“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 wrote on Truth Social.

Trump also warned that federal forces could return “in a much different and stronger form” if crime rises again.

Trump’s decision followed a Dec. 23 Supreme Court order in Trump v. Illinois denying the administration’s application to stay a district court temporary restraining order barring deployment of federalized Guard troops in the state.

In its unsigned order, the court said the administration had not shown legal authority to use the military to “execute the laws” in Illinois at this stage of the case. “At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the order said.

The ruling focused on 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3) — the statute Trump relied on to federalize Guard members when he is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States” — and concluded “regular forces” likely means the U.S. military, not civilian law enforcement.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment, while Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

Guard troops have already left Los Angeles and troops sent toward Chicago and Portland were never on the streets as lawsuits played out, the Associated Press reported.