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Hello and welcome to the current developments in American political affairs. We begin with the news that a small number of National Guard troops has started protecting government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on background basis in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been made public.

The troops are in the urban area to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the troops were armed.

Political Context

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"

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

Other Updates

• Donald Trump declared that Hamas and Israel have accepted a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
• News of the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
• During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the government provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as political content creators. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.