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Greetings and welcome to the current developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding federal property in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Deployment Details

An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been officially released.

The troops are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The official wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks come as national guard troops have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the federal administration, despite objections from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• The president declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and detained persons.
• Reports about the Gaza agreement was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be given the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers report on leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's authority to use deadly military force against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.