US President Donald Trump said he was withdrawing National Guard troops from several US cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, after a Supreme Court ruling last week undermined his authority to use troops for policing.
“We will come back, perhaps in a completely different and stronger form, when crime starts to rise again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on New Year’s Eve.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration abandoned its legal efforts to maintain control of troops stationed in Los Angeles. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump cannot use troops in Chicago to enforce law and order at home.
Trump's statement also mentioned Portland, Oregon, but not Washington, D.C., where troops continue to patrol.
Trump's decision to order National Guard troops into Democratic-run cities has sparked a series of court cases challenging his authority to do so. Troops are usually under the authority of state governors.
Hundreds of troops were deployed to Chicago and Portland but were not yet assigned to patrol city streets as the legal battle played out in court.
Trump said troops are needed to enforce the law and fight crime and illegal immigration. Critics deny the need for troops and accuse Trump of attempting an “authoritarian” crackdown that threatens democracy.
Last week, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Trump v. Illinois. that the President did not have the authority to send troops to Chicago.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration withdrew a legal challenge in California in an effort to keep troops under Trump's control.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the move, writing on X: “This admission by Trump and members of his occult cabinet means these illegal scare tactics will finally come to an end.”
He said Trump's announcement of withdrawing troops from US cities “is the political version of 'You can't fire me, I'm leaving.'”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the Supreme Court's decision last week, telling MS Now that “there is at least one other branch of government that recognizes that the president's abuses pose an existential threat to our democracy.”
