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Greetings and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We begin with the news that a limited contingent of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Troop Information

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The military personnel are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.

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 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The official wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the personnel were equipped.

Background Situation

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

"The city's mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks come as state military forces have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and free captured individuals and detained persons.
• News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept that mandates that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in the Oregon city. The accurate count of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: a single incident.