Trump militarizing U.S. cities in violation of court orders

Above: Oct. 6 C-SPAN clip of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker discussing Trump’s troop deployment to Chicago

Convicted felon/sexual abuser/President Trump has seized control of National Guard troops from several states and ordered them into major U.S. cities in states that have Democratic mayors and in states that voted for his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 general election. Trump federalized Illinois National Guard troops and sent them to Chicago, and ordered hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas to go to Portland, Oregon and Chicago, Illinois, ostensibly for crime prevention. Trump branded both cities as “war zones” and said Portland was “war ravaged” without providing any evidence, and despite the fact that crime rates having recently fallen sharply in both cities. Portland had a 51% drop in homicides in the first half of 2025, and this year Chicago had its fewest summer murders since 1965.  Violent crime in Chicago is also at its lowest point in 60 years. 

Sending military troops into U.S. cities  violates the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a federal law that prohibits U.S. presidents from using the military as a domestic police force. Americans have long viewed military interference in civilian affairs as an ominous and dangerous threat to democracy and personal freedoms.

In an oddly political speech to the U.S. Military’s top brass on September 30, Trump told the gathered generals and admirals that to use American cities as “training grounds” for the U.S. military.  Trump described political opponents and people who protest his policies as “the enemy from within.” Authoritarians like Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler have used variations of the phrase “the enemy within” to demonize their opponents and justify extreme acts of repression, including arresting, imprisoning and even executing their rivals and critics.

Trump continues to violate U.S. law and deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities governed by Democrats despite court rulings saying doing so is illegal. When courts told him he could not deploy California National Guard Troops to Oregon, he deployed Texas National Guard Troops to Oregon instead.