In a significant policy reversal, former US President Donald Trump has abruptly ended his attempts to deploy federal National Guard troops for law enforcement duties in three major Democratic-led cities. The decision, announced on Wednesday, sees troops withdrawn from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland.
Legal Defeats Force a Sudden Climbdown
The unexpected shift followed a series of legal defeats for the Trump administration. The US Justice Department confirmed it would no longer contest a ruling from a California court, which ordered that control of the National Guard be returned to the state's governor, Gavin Newsom. This legal action stemmed from Trump's initial order in June 2025, which sent troops into Los Angeles in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
Governor Newsom, who had vociferously opposed the federal deployment, hailed the Justice Department's filing with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a victory. "This admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end," Newsom stated.
Supreme Court Rebuke and a Contested Narrative
This retreat marks the second major setback for Trump's policy in a single week. Previously, the US Supreme Court delivered a rare rebuke by blocking the administration's efforts to deploy the National Guard in Chicago. That move was opposed by the city's Mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump attempted to frame the withdrawal as temporary and strategic. "We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities," he wrote. He vowed to redeploy "in a much different and stronger form" if crime were to rise again.
However, the sequence of legal concessions paints a clear picture of a retreat. A lower court had earlier this month ruled that Trump seized control of the National Guard members illegally, ordering their return to state authority—a ruling the administration initially contested before backing down.
Ripple Effects and Ongoing Deployments
This decision casts considerable doubt on the future of other National Guard deployments in Democratic-run urban centres. Troops remain stationed in Washington DC, where they have been since August 2024, purportedly to address crime. An incident on 26 November, where one guardsman was killed and another seriously wounded by a gunman, led to an increase in troop numbers and intensified anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump after the suspect was identified as an Afghan asylum seeker.
More than 2,000 troops, many drafted from at least 11 Republican-led states, are currently in Washington DC. A federal appeals court ruled this month that they can remain while judges determine the legality of their deployment, overturning a lower court order for their removal. The status of a planned deployment of 350 troops to New Orleans also now appears uncertain.
This week's events underscore the intense legal and political battles surrounding the use of federal military power for domestic policing, a contentious issue that has defined a key part of Trump's immigration and law enforcement agenda.
