President Donald Trump deployed federal troops into Washington, D.C., where the city lacks a governor and the National Guard is under presidential control. He identified other cities—Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Oakland, and Los Angeles—as potential targets for federal deployments. He signed executive orders to establish a more permanent infrastructure to send troops into cities, including directing the Defense Secretary to create a quick reaction force trained to quell civil disturbances and maintain public order. Ongoing litigation and legal barriers challenge the domestic use of military forces and National Guard deployments. Immigration enforcement also factors into the administration's plans.
As targets go, D.C. is almost too easy. The city has no governor who can legally object to the presence of federal troops, and its National Guard is already under the president's control. It seemed that maybe Trump was shifting tactics in response to ongoing litigation challenging his use of the National Guard to control protests in Los Angeles earlier this year. (Or maybe he was posturing in response to California Governor Gavin Newsom's devastatingly effective parodies.)
He also signed a series of executive orders aimed at creating a more permanent infrastructure that could allow him to direct troops to show up in other cities at any time. One, for example, instructs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create a special "quick reaction force" trained to quell civil disturbances and ensure safety and public order "whenever the circumstances necessitate."
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