Trump says National Guard being removed from Chicago, LA and Portland

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but he added in his social media post that federal forces will “come back” if crime rates go up.

Local leaders in those cities and Democrats have said the deployments, which have faced legal challenges, were unnecessary. They have accused the Trump administration of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence at mostly peaceful protests to justify sending in troops.

Trump, a Republican, has said troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Memphis and Portland were necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.

“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, and ONLY by that fact,” Trump wrote.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!”

Judges overseeing lawsuits filed by cities challenging the deployments have consistently ruled that the Trump administration overstepped its authority and found that there is no evidence to support claims that troops are necessary to protect federal property from protesters.

The U.S. Supreme Court on December 23 blocked Trump’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois, a ruling that undercut his legal rationale for sending soldiers to other states.

The court said the president’s authority to take federal control of National Guard troops likely only applies in “exceptional” circumstances.

“At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the court’s majority held in an unsigned order.

Trump started deploying troops in June amid protests against his hardline immigration policies including efforts to ramp up deportations. He also deployed troops to Washington and took control of local police in response to what he said was rampant crime – though local crime statistics indicated otherwise – using his unique authority as president over the U.S. capital.

Military officials have been winding down and scaling back the deployments in recent months as litigation has left them in limbo.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ryan Patrick Jones; editing by Diane Craft)