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Hello and welcome to the most recent updates in American political affairs. We start with the report that a limited contingent of National Guard troops has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area 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, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been made public.

The military personnel are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and police officers, 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 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the troops were armed.

Political Context

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for 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 prison for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have begun arriving in the Chicago area at the order of the federal administration, despite opposition from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Other Updates

• The president announced that the conflicting parties have agreed to a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Middle East deal was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the core legal principle that requires that the authorities provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" hosted by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers report on liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more similar to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• GOP senators rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's ability to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the administration's unprecedented deployment of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.