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Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We begin with the report that a small number of National Guard troops has started protecting government facilities 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 operating in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on background basis in order to reveal operational details that have not been officially released.

The troops are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

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

Background Situation

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

"The city's mayor should be in prison for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump's remarks coincide with national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• Reports about the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more similar to opposition research than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the government's extraordinary use of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been murdered by political extremists in the Oregon city. The accurate count of killings by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.