A Democracy Drive Thread
Federalizing the National Guard and deploying soldiers into U.S. cities — Los Angeles, Washington, Memphis, Portland, Chicago — over the objections of governors and mayors, and what the courts said about it.
Through 2025 and into 2026 the administration repeatedly federalized the National Guard and deployed troops into American cities — Los Angeles, Washington, Memphis, Portland, Chicago — usually over the objections of the governors and mayors who run them, and usually framed as a response to crime or immigration-enforcement protests. This thread tracks those deployments in chronological order, with sources, alongside what the courts said about them: more than once, federal judges and ultimately the Supreme Court found the administration had overstepped its authority. The entries are presented in order so the pattern is visible on its own.
June 9, 2025
After protests against immigration raids, Trump federalized more than 4,000 California National Guard troops and deployed about 700 Marines to Los Angeles, over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objection. In September a federal judge ruled the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, the 19th-century law barring the military from civilian law enforcement; California put the cost to taxpayers near $120 million.
August 11, 2025
Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, D.C. and deployed roughly 2,000 National Guard troops, drawing in units from other states. On August 24 the troops began carrying their service weapons. The deployment, costing about $1 million a day, was repeatedly extended and kept in place into 2026.
August 25, 2025
Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to ensure a “standing National Guard quick reaction force … available for rapid nationwide deployment,” with specialized units to address crime in cities — extending to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Defense officials described it as institutionalizing the use of Guard troops for domestic law enforcement.
September 12, 2025
Trump announced a National Guard deployment to Memphis, saying the city was “deeply troubled.” Tennessee’s governor said the troops would support local police rather than make arrests, and a “Memphis Safe Task Force” of federal agencies and Guard members began operating later that month.
September 28, 2025
Trump moved to send National Guard troops to Portland over ICE protests, calling the city “war-ravaged.” Oregon and Portland sued; a judge temporarily blocked the deployment, the DOJ was found to have relied on outdated evidence, and in November a federal judge issued a permanent injunction, finding the president’s portrayal of the city “simply untethered to the facts.” The administration appealed.
December 23, 2025
When the administration moved troops toward Chicago, Illinois and the city sued, arguing the deployment was unlawful. A federal judge blocked it in October, and on December 23 the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s bid to deploy the National Guard to the Chicago area while the case proceeded. By the end of 2025 the administration confirmed the Guard was leaving Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland.
January 18, 2026
Amid ICE protests in Minnesota, Trump posted that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if state officials did not quell what he called “insurrectionists,” and threatened to send military police. He had also told the military’s top generals at Quantico of plans to send troops to “very unsafe” Democratic cities, naming San Francisco among them.