National Guard troops have quietly left Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, but thousands remain in three other U.S. cities.
President Trump announces National Guard will be withdrawn from Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he would withdraw the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland.
The National Guard was completely withdrawn from Los Angeles. CHICAGO; Federal military operations have ended in half of the cities where the Trump administration began last year, military officials say.
According to U.S. Northern Command, the troops completed their withdrawal as of January 21, referring to the demobilization on its website. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the troop withdrawal, which was first reported by the Washington Post.
President Donald Trump announced in December that the soldiers would be withdrawn after the Supreme Court blocked his administration’s decision to send troops to Chicago, finding that it was insufficiently justified. President Trump has credited the National Guard with reducing crime rates, but crime was already on the decline in cities where troops were deployed.
“We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland,” President Trump said in a social media post in December. “Even though the presence of great patriots in these cities has significantly reduced crime, that’s about it,” adding, “If crime starts spiking again, we’ll be back, perhaps in a different and stronger form.”
The cuts end a controversial mission that began over the objections of state and local officials, who responded with a series of legal challenges, some of which led to rulings that the deployment was illegal.
But while hundreds of National Guard troops have departed from three U.S. cities, thousands remain in Washington, New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, under the command of Republican governors and Mr. Trump himself.
Here’s what you need to know about the withdrawal and ongoing developments.
National Guard troops to be federalized amid immigration push
The Guard was first sent to Los Angeles in June in response to protests over aggressive immigration raids, marking the first time since the civil rights movement of the 1960s that the National Guard had been federalized without a formal request from a governor.
Over the next six months, the administration began similar deployments across the country.
Deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland were sparked by protests, while deployments in Washington, Memphis, and New Orleans were tied to broader crime-reduction efforts, although immigrant advocates and lawyers in those cities also reported an increase in immigration raids.
In Washington, troops were routinely seen picking up trash, mulching tourist spots, and patrolling train platforms. In November, a gunman shot two National Guardsmen near the White House, killing an Army special officer. Sarah Beckstrom and the seriously injured Air Force Chief of Staff. Andrew Wolf.
The forces in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland were federalized under Title 10 status, which restricted them from engaging in law enforcement activities such as arrests and searches. Soldiers in Memphis and New Orleans, which remain under state control, have broad powers to detain people.
Lawsuit prevents National Guard deployment
All deployments except the one in New Orleans have faced serious legal challenges, with multiple judges ruling that the mobilizations were illegal. On appeal, the Trump administration won both a temporary victory and a defeat.
In December, a federal appeals court allowed the National Guard to remain in Washington, overturning a lower court’s ruling that it was illegal. That same month, the Supreme Court ruled against the administration’s use of the National Guard, blocking its deployment to Chicago.
“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify the source of authority that would enable the military to enforce the laws in Illinois,” the majority wrote in a short opinion.
The administration has appealed rulings by federal judges in Chicago and Oregon that found the deployment unconstitutional. Those appeals are pending.
How long will the remaining deployments last?
Louisiana officials say about 350 soldiers deployed to New Orleans are scheduled to leave at the end of February.
Nearly 3,000 troops are expected to remain in Washington until the end of the year.
No withdrawal date has been set for the 1,500 Guard members in Memphis. The Tennessee Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in March on whether to uphold a lower court’s order blocking the use of National Guard troops.
Deploying the National Guard last year cost about $500 million.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that President Trump’s military deployments to American cities will cost taxpayers nearly $500 million in 2025 and more than $1.1 billion over another year.
According to this estimate, it cost President Trump about $496 million to send troops to five U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Washington.
According to domestic military budget information obtained by USA TODAY in September, sending the National Guard to Washington costs more than $1.8 million per day. The CBO analysis found that the deployment to Washington would cost about $55 million per month for an additional year, or $660 million annually.
Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Email us at ccann@usatoday.com.
Contributor: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY. Brooke Muckerman, Memphis Commercial Appeal
