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Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has started protecting government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Troop Information

An unit 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 news agency on condition of anonymity in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been officially released.

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

The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.

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) personnel.

"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's comments coincide with state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the fundamental legal concept that mandates that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's authority to use deadly military force against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in the Oregon city. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.