Trump withdraws federal National Guard from Portland, LA, Chicago
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The Trump administration withdrew all federalized National Guard troops from U.S. cities as of earlier in 2026, following through on President Donald Trump‘s announcement in December 2025 that warned “we will come back” if crime spirals in left-wing cities once again.
U.S. Northern Command — the military command responsible for homeland defense and coordinating defense support during domestic emergencies — states on its website that all Title 10 National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, were demobilized as of Jan. 21.
Trump federalized and deployed National Guard troops under Title 10 in June 2025, citing the need to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal property amid immigration unrest. Troops were sent to cities that also historically have struggled with spiraling crime trends, including during the 2020 era when the nation saw the largest single-year increase in murders since the FBI began tracking such data in the 1960s.
More than 5,000 troops in Los Angeles, approximately 500 in Chicago and 200 in Portland, Oregon, were demobilized, The Washington Post first reported Wednesday.
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All federalized National Guard troops were removed from U.S. cities by January 2026, following President Trump’s announcement on a withdrawal in December. (Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images)
The White House directed Fox News Digital to Trump’s announcement on the withdrawal back in December 2025 when approached for comment on the Washington Post’s report.
“We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact,” Trump wrote Dec. 31, 2025. “Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in.”
He added that the troops will return — but likely only when crime spirals in the left-wing cities, adding that he was puzzled by local liberal leaders who would want the troops to leave the city.
“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!” he wrote. “It is hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made???”
Title 10 troops serve under federal active-duty orders, distinct from Guard forces deployed elsewhere and under different legal authorities.
For example, there is still a National Guard presence in Washington, D.C., as service members there remain on duty under a nonfederal status, while National Guard troops in New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, also are still on the ground, as they are deployed under separate agreements between their governors and the administration.
The thousands of National Guard troops deployed as Title 10 soldiers to Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, however, are no longer mobilized, according to Northern Command’s website.
U.S. National Guard are deployed around downtown Los Angeles, June 8, 2025, following an immigration raid protest the night before. (Eric Thayer/The Associated Press )
Local leaders and Democrat critics in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago slammed the administration over the move, claiming it was an unnecessary and politically charged escalation that bypassed governors, leading to lawsuits and legal roadblocks. The Supreme Court in December 2025, for example, temporarily blocked a deployment to Chicago, citing the administration failed to “identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
President Donald Trump met with National Guard members in Washington, D.C., in August 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)
“President Trump turned the National Guard against the communities they swore to serve. This is unlawful and immoral,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in October 2025 as the state legally challenged the administration over the federalization. “The National Guard deserves better than being treated like Trump’s toy soldiers — and when they’re returned to California command, we’ll get them back to doing the real work they signed up to do.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says murders plunged to historic lows as Trump ramped up arrests, deportations and gang crackdowns, citing new crime data. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press )
The withdrawal of the federalized troops comes as the administration touts cratering violent crime trends across the nation.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) reported in February that, based on data from 67 of the nation’s biggest police departments, homicides overall fell 19% in U.S. cities, robberies by 20% and aggravated assaults by 10%.
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“This is the direct result of President Trump’s aggressive, no-nonsense approach to public safety,” the White House said Wednesday of the data.
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“By surging federal resources to Democrat-run cities that had devolved into war zones, removing savage criminal illegals from our streets, supporting police and prosecutors, and rejecting the Radical Left’s weakness, President Trump’s decisive actions have turned the tide, saved countless lives, and restored peace to communities long abandoned by Democrat politicians who prioritized criminals over citizens.”
