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Hello and welcome to the current updates in American political affairs. We start with the news that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Deployment Details

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been made public.

The military personnel are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

"The city's mayor should be in prison for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Other Updates

• The president announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities 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 greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect explanation of the fundamental legal concept that mandates that the authorities provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers report on leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• GOP senators voted down a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to counter the administration's unprecedented deployment of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.