Trump issues warning as National Guard troops withdrawn from US cities

The US government is removing the National ⁠Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and ​Portland, Donald Trump has announced.

But, in a New Year's Eve message on social media, the president also warned that federal forces would "come back" if crime rates increased.

The National Guard is a reserve of US military troops, typically used for domestic emergencies such as major protests and natural disasters.

But in 2025 it was deployed to many Democrat-controlled cities, which Mr Trump said was to crack down on crime and disorder.

Democrats accuse his administration of overstepping its authority and exaggerating isolated episodes of violence.

In his social media post on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "We are removing ‌the National Guard from Chicago, ​Los Angeles, and Portland in Oregon, despite the fact that ‍CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those ‌cities, and ONLY by ⁠that fact."

However, troops sent to Chicago and Portland were never out on the streets, their deployment held up by legal challenges.

Efforts in Oregon were blocked by a federal judge and in Chicago by the Supreme Court. The latter was not a final ruling, but was a significant and unusual setback from the US's top court.

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Troops were utilised in Los Angeles earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration, but had already been pulled back after a court ruling earlier this month.

Legal roadblocks sprang up elsewhere in the country too, including in Washington DC, where District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb brought a court case to halt the deployments of more than 2,000 guardsmen.

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Trump: We'll be back

Mr Trump added in his post: "We will come ‍back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar ​again - Only a question of time!

"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???"