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Hello and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

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 spoke to the news agency on background basis in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been made public.

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

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been activated for two months. The official wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

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

"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks coincide with state military forces have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Other Updates

• Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
• Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'legal principle' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a highly incorrect definition of the fundamental legal concept that mandates that the authorities provide a official justification for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as political content creators. The content producers report on liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more similar to opposition research than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans voted down a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to oppose the administration's extraordinary use of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been murdered by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.