Not used yetTrump withdrew 400 National Guard troops from Portland and Chicago
The deployment of National Guard troops to Democratic-controlled cities angered many Americans. The justification for this placement appears to be pretext. According to reports, 400 soldiers are now heading home. The fact that these tools have not been used should not be the reason.
Following US President Donald Trump’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, a partial withdrawal of troops has now begun, according to a media report. The New York Times (NYT) reported that 200 National Guardsmen who had been sent to the two cities from California and Texas would be withdrawn. The National Guard was never deployed due to legal disputes.
According to the NYT, the internal reason for the move is, on the one hand, the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas. Soldiers were not supposed to spend the celebrations away from their families. On the other hand, the paper emphasizes operating costs.
Instead, 300 members of the Illinois State National Guard will remain in Chicago – Chicago is in Illinois. The same goes for 100 National Guardsmen from the state of Oregon who will remain in Portland, as the New York Times reported, citing an unnamed US representative.
Questionable reasons for use
Trump has sent the National Guard to a number of cities ruled by the opposition Democratic Party. Right-wing populist groups justify this with alleged rampant violent crime and protests against their government’s brutal deportation policies. Neither the cities of Los Angeles, the capital of Washington, Chicago, nor Portland are among the cities with high violent crime rates, nor have their numbers increased recently.
The president’s highly unusual deployment of the National Guard sparked sharp criticism. Democratic politicians accused Trump of taking increasingly authoritarian actions. In Portland’s case, a federal judge also imposed a ban on further deployment of National Guard troops to the city in early November.
