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Hello and welcome to the current developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a small number of state military forces has begun guarding federal property in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Chicago area, as stated by a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on background basis in order to discuss operational details that have not been made public.

The troops are in the urban area to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the troops were armed.

Political Context

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

"The city's mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments come as state military forces have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the federal administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who called on Trump to be given the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem 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 provided statements at the White House "political discussion" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called political content creators. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more similar to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been murdered by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of killings by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.