Since July 2025, President Donald Trump has been making extensive use of the National Guard in order to, in the words of White House representative Abigail Jackson, quell the “lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
As of now, he has successfully been able to deploy federalized National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago and Memphis, TN.
Of these cities, three have been able to successfully argue against the deployment in court.
In Chicago, the Seventh Circuit Court has prohibited National Guard troops to be stationed in the city, although they have not been ordered to return to their home states.
In Los Angeles, after a legal battle between the state and the federal government, National Guard troops were called off and forced to leave, though about 100 are still stationed in California.
In Washington D.C., the National Guard has remained deployed, although nearly half of them are planning to withdraw within the next few months.
In Memphis, TN, things have gone a bit differently. The National Guard in the cities is instead under the control of the Republican governor of the state and has not been challenged in courts.
Meanwhile, in Portland, OR, the National Guard has yet to be deployed as courts deal with the lawsuit against the federal government. However, a successful legal battle by California led to out-of-state National Guard (such as California’s) not being allowed to deploy in OR.
Protests have been common in the wake of these recent deployments, with many dissenting voices demanding action against what is seen as being unconstitutional.
Ean Laino, a Sage Creek senior, considers the deployments “very concerning,” calling into question especially the deployment of National Guard troops from other states.
In fact, Laino would consider these deployments “highly unprecedented” and, in his opinion, “a gross violation of our founding principles of federalism.”
To justify the deployments, Trump and his allies have cited crime statistics, claiming that said cities are plagued with “lawlessness,” despite the general trend away from violent crime in the cities. Similarly, despite minor protests in the regions against ICE, the protests only picked up after the deployment of the National Guard.
Mr. Cordell, Social Science Department Chair and AP Government teacher, has studied the utility of the National Guard.
“The National Guard serves a distinct purpose,” says Cordell. “In my opinion, there is insufficient evidence that the justification offered for the deployment of various national guards meets the threshold for deployment.”
Meanwhile, more cities are likely to be targeted. Trump has expressed interest in deploying the National Guard to six other democratic cities.
In San Francisco and Oakland, California, Trump has claimed that Democrats have “destroyed” the region, and has plans to “clean up” the area.
In Baltimore, fears are growing after Trump listed the city along with Chicago as needing National Guard deployment.
“Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” said Trump.
St. Louis, New York City and New Orleans have experienced similar threats, though St. Louis and New Orleans have both had requests from Republican state governors to have the National Guard deployed.
Despite this, Trump has openly considered citing the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the military within the nation. If he were to use this in a similar fashion to the National Guard, it would spell military occupation.
Due to the current government shutdown, the National Guard troops, which have been federalized by Trump are not even receiving pay at the moment, though they will receive back pay for their work when the shutdown resolves.
“On top of all the other stuff in the news right now,” said Laino, “it’s all very hard to be optimistic for this country’s future.”
