On Dec. 29, 2025 during his news conference in Mar-a-Lago, President Trump announced he would be dropping his push for National Guard troops in major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, but warned that “we will come back” if crime rates increase. If crime rates increase, Trump warns that he is already considering enacting the Insurrection Act as “We haven’t used [it yet].”. The Insurrection Act empowers the president to “deploy the military domestically.”
The National Guard’s presence in cities first gained public traction when they appeared during the first nationwide “No Kings Day” protest that took place in Los Angeles during June 2025. These were a series of massive protests where the American public demonstrated their discontent with Trump’s actions that were compared to those seen in monarchs.
Recently, Trump has proclaimed that the drop in crime in these cities is a direct response to the National Guard’s presence “and ONLY by that,” despite troops oftentimes not being out on the streets of Portland or Chicago due to opposing legal challenges they were faced with. Back in August of 2025, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker said, “I think he might be suffering from some dementia” when asked what his thoughts were on Trump’s first declaration of deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
Gov. Pritzker corrected Trump’s announcement by posting his own statement on X that Trump’s decision to retreat the troops is not because of the troops’ alleged success in lowering crime rates, but rather because he “lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard… [and he has now been] forced to stand down.”
Following Trump’s announcement regarding the troops’ retreat, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has also expressed his discontent with Trump’s claim and launched his own statement from his office detailing how Portland’s crime rate drop is a result of the “efforts of local police and public safety programs.”
There is not an official date for the retreat of the National Guard in Illinois, California and Oregon, but it has been confirmed that troops will remain in Washington D.C. and there have been hints at these troops having a “prolonged deployment.” In Los Angeles, there have been reports from an “unauthorized” military official that those troops that were stationed “have been moved to a military facility in the area and are conducting training exercises.”
