US President Donald Trump said he is withdrawing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, following a series of legal setbacks over his military deployments in US cities.
Trump, a Republican, had sent troops into several cities run by Democrats during his first year back in power, in what he called a crackdown on illegal immigration and crime.
Local leaders slammed the moves as authoritarian overreach and launched a string of successful legal challenges, with the US Supreme Court blocking the Chicago deployment.
鈥淲e 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,鈥 Trump said on his Truth Social network.
In the message on New Year鈥檚 Eve, Trump said the three cities 鈥渨ere GONE if it weren鈥檛 for the Federal Government stepping in鈥.
鈥淲e will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - only a question of time!鈥 Trump added.
Trump鈥檚 deployments of National Guard troops have been a centrepiece of his hardline policies on immigration and crime since returning to the White House in January.
The 79-year-old billionaire and former reality star has also sent the National Guard into the capital Washington and to Memphis, Tennessee, and threatened to send them to San Francisco.
But the Trump administration had already begun to pull some troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland in recent weeks as court judgments went against it.
Los Angeles became the first city to have troops on the streets in June when Trump went over the heads of local Democratic leaders to order 4000 National Guard reservists to put down protests over immigration raids.
Those local leaders said the relatively minor protests, which affected only a few blocks in America鈥檚 second-largest metropolis, could easily be handled by city, county and state law enforcement.
On December 10, a federal judge ordered Trump鈥檚 administration to end the Los Angeles deployment and return control of the soldiers to California鈥檚 Democratic Governor Gavin 九一星空无限om.
Most had already been demobilised, with the US military saying 100 Guard troops remained deployed at the time.
Hours before Trump鈥檚 announcement, 九一星空无限om said the administration had formally stopped opposing the federal court鈥檚 ruling on the troops.
鈥淭his admission by Trump and his occult cabinet members means this illegal intimidation tactic will finally come to an end,鈥 九一星空无限om, who is widely seen as a likely Democratic contender for the presidency in 2028, said on X.
Trump, meanwhile, ordered military forces from Texas and California to Chicago and Portland in early October.
As of last week, some 300 National Guard troops remained activated in the Chicago area but were not engaged in operations.
A judge in November ruled the Portland deployment unlawful and ordered it permanently blocked.
-Agence France-Presse
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