WashingtonA judge has ruled that Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard is illegal. in Los Angeles during protests against immigration raidsIn June, the US president will send more than 4,000 troops from the force, as well as 700 marinas, against the will of California Governor Gavin Newsom, Democrat. The ruling comes just as Trump has threatened to do the same to other Democratic cities, such as Chicago and New York.
California appealed Trump's deployment of the National Guard to a San Francisco judge, since the decision to put troops on the streets rests with governors, not the president. Newsom had rejected the idea, but Trump still decided to trample on the governor's authority and militarize the city using the protests downtown as a pretext. Both Newsom and the mayor of Los Angeles did not want the military deployment in the city for fear that the presence of troops would further inflame the atmosphere.
Justice Charles Breyer of San Francisco, after a three-day trial in August, finally concluded that the Trump administration violated federal law by sending troops to Los Angeles, and set his order to take effect on Friday.
In the month of June the aggressive raids by immigration services (ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ordered by the Trump administration sparked protests in downtown Los Angeles after a violent arrest in the parking lot of one of the city's Home Depots—a construction supply chain. The US president took advantage of the street reaction he himself had provoked to accuse Los Angeles of being a "lawless" city and thus justify its militarization. The more than 4,000 National Guard and 700 marinas They were deployed throughout the summer, until the end of August. Currently, there are still about 200 troops left.
Since then, Trump has made the National Guard his main tool in his crusade against the sanctuary cities, which are also the country's main Democratic strongholds. The president militarized Los Angeles as an exemplary punishment for the rest of sanctuary cities, as he has done with Washington. An action that not only serves as a warning to navigators, but also as a laboratory for the overreach of his powers. Unlike Los Angeles, the capital is located in a federal district and not a state, and the power to deploy the National Guard here does rest with the country's president.
Even so, to justify it, Trump has declared a supposed "criminal emergency." when the city's crime data has been declining since 2023. The president has used this portrait of Washington to justify the federalization of local police and to authorize the collaboration of local agents with federal agents, thus ending the status of sanctuary city from Washington.
Chicago in the spotlight
At the same time, Trump has only increased threats against Chicago, one of the other major Democratic strongholds in the country and also sanctuary city. In the first days of his second term, the president already ordered immigration agents to carry out the first raids in the Illinois city. Although Trump assured that Chicago "will probably be next," he also gave signals that he was cooling the will to act unilaterally as he did with Los Angeles.
This same Tuesday, when the judge declared the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles illegal, Trump has announced again in a post on Truth Social his intention: "I'm going to solve the crime problem, just like I did in DC," he said, adding that "Chicago will be safe again, and soon." In a second post, he said: "Chicago is the murder capital of the world." The Republican inflamed the rhetoric, while Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, is expected to hold a press conference this afternoon in which he will address "the people of Illinois amid reports of federal deployments to Chicago."
Pritzker, who is also a possible presidential candidate in 2028, has recommended that the Trump administration not come to Chicago, and the city's mayor, Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, signed an executive order on Saturday preparing for that possibility.
Trump continues to say he will send the National Guard to Chicago
In a press conference from the Oval Office, Trump insisted he remains committed to sending the National Guard to Chicago. "We will go. I didn't say when, but we will go," the president assured reporters, emphasizing the "great job" he did when he sent the troops to Los Angeles. Despite speaking at length about the militarization of Los Angeles and hinting that he wants to do the same in Chicago, the president did not mention the court ruling that declared his use of the military in California illegal until a reporter asked him about it. The president responded only that it was a ruling by a "radical, left-wing lunatic" judge and practically booed the reporter when he asked the question. After that question, Trump abruptly ended the appearance.
Trump also cites the takeover of Washington as a model to replicate nationwide. "It serves as a template, and we'll do it elsewhere, but Chicago will certainly be important," the president stated, reiterating that he would welcome a call from the governor of Illinois asking him to deploy the National Guard. In this case, at least it seems Trump no longer dares to violate federal law as he did in Los Angeles.
