Trump Threatens Insurrection Act; Troops Headed to Cities

President Trump said he is open to invoking the 19th‑century Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard or deploy federal troops in Democrat‑run cities such as Portland and Chicago “if it was necessary,” particularly if courts, governors or mayors block his plans or “people were being killed,” and cited Washington, D.C. activations as a model. The remarks came amid active legal fights: federal judges have temporarily blocked some Portland deployments while a court allowed National Guard mobilization to proceed in Illinois for now, and Oregon, California and Illinois have sued the administration; the White House has appealed adverse rulings and aides have called them a “legal insurrection.” Military movements have continued, with reports of roughly 200 Texas troops bound for Chicago as deployments proceed. Critics and legal experts sharply condemned the threat as an authoritarian escalation and accused the administration of using inflammatory rhetoric about protesters to justify emergency powers. The Insurrection Act, last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, would permit domestic military law‑enforcement action and has set the stage for an escalating legal and political standoff over federal authority, public safety, and civil liberties.