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Hello and welcome to the current developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Deployment Details

An element of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The military personnel are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.

The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for two months. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"The city's mayor should be in prison for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks coincide with state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• The president declared that Hamas and Israel have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Middle East deal was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the authorities provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "political discussion" hosted by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called political content creators. The content producers cover liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.