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Greetings and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on background basis in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The troops are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.

The troops, 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 military command and have been deployed for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.

Background Situation

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

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

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• Donald Trump declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be given the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
• During presidential gathering, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the participants 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 influencers report on liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in the Oregon city. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.