U.S. President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the National Guard from the cities of Chicago (Illinois), Los Angeles (California), and Portland (Oregon), while affirming that they would “return” if necessary.
In a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump stated:
“We are withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, even though crime has dropped significantly thanks to the presence of these great patriots in those cities—and only because of that. Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago would have been lost without the intervention of the federal government.”
The president added:
“We will return, perhaps in a different and stronger form, when crime begins to rise again. It’s only a matter of time! It’s hard to believe that these mayors and Democratic governors—all of them so incompetent—want us gone, especially considering the tremendous progress we’ve made.”
Trump had previously deployed federal forces to several Democrat-led cities during his first year back in office, describing it as a campaign to combat illegal immigration and crime.