President Donald Trump has stepped back, at least for now, from plans to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland following a series of legal setbacks that stalled the effort.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump stated that the pause would not be permanent.
“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!” he wrote.
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The decision comes after multiple court challenges blocked the administration’s attempt to federalize state National Guard units, a move typically controlled by governors. Trump had pushed to send troops into the three cities despite objections from Democratic state and local leaders, framing the deployments as part of a broader campaign targeting immigration enforcement, crime, and public unrest.
The president has repeatedly positioned crime as a central issue of his second term and has floated invoking the Insurrection Act to override court rulings that limit his authority. He has also argued that a hardline approach plays well politically ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Troops had already withdrawn from Los Angeles, where they were initially deployed earlier this year. Trump claimed their presence led to reduced crime in all three cities, although National Guard units were never deployed on the streets in Chicago or Portland due to ongoing legal challenges. During a court hearing in Chicago, a Justice Department attorney acknowledged that the Guard’s role would have been limited to protecting federal buildings and personnel, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”
Local officials challenged Trump’s claims. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office stated that the city’s decline in crime was due to local policing strategies and public safety initiatives. Chicago officials echoed that position, noting in a Tuesday statement that the city recorded 416 homicides in 2025, its lowest total since 2014.
Legal resistance has followed nearly every attempt by the administration to deploy the Guard in Democratic-led cities. In December, the Supreme Court declined to allow the deployment of troops in the Chicago area, a rare procedural setback for the administration, even though the ruling did not resolve the case on its merits.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responded Wednesday by saying Trump “lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down.”
In Oregon, hundreds of National Guard members had been sent to Portland, but a federal judge barred them from conducting street operations. Following a three-day trial, the court permanently blocked the deployment in November. Gov. Tina Kotek said Wednesday that her office had yet to receive formal notice that remaining federalized troops would be released.
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“They were never lawfully deployed to Portland and there was no need for their presence,” Kotek said in an AP report. “If President Trump has finally chosen to follow court orders and demobilize our troops, that’s a big win for Oregonians and for the rule of law.”
The administration’s use of federal authority over the Guard began in Los Angeles in June, after protests erupted over a surge in immigration arrests. Trump ordered roughly 4,000 Guard members and 700 Marines into the city to protect federal buildings and assist agents during enforcement operations.
Over time, the deployment was scaled back. By mid-December, only a few hundred troops remained before a lower court ordered control returned to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. While an appeals court initially paused that order, the administration later abandoned its request to maintain federal control. On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit formally directed that authority be returned to the state.
“About time Trump admitted defeat,” Newsom said in a social media post. “We’ve said it from day one: the federal takeover of California’s National Guard is illegal.”
Elsewhere, National Guard deployments remain in place. In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused a ruling that would have ended the Guard’s presence in the city, where troops have been stationed since August following Trump’s declaration of a “crime emergency.”
In Tennessee, Trump ordered the National Guard into Memphis as part of a federal crime initiative. While a state judge blocked the move, that decision was temporarily stayed during an appeal, allowing the troops to remain. The deployment was backed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee and the state’s congressional delegation.
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Meanwhile, in New Orleans, about 350 National Guard members arrived this week in the French Quarter. They are expected to remain through Mardi Gras to support public safety efforts, a deployment supported by both the state’s Republican governor and the city’s Democratic mayor.
