Pentagon Sends Home Hundreds of Guard Troops as Court Battles Stall Trump Deployments

Hundreds of National Guard troops stationed in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, under President Donald Trump’s domestic deployment orders are being sent home, while remaining service members will stay off the streets as court challenges intensify, a defense official said Monday.

The withdrawals indicate a significant shift in the administration’s effort to use military forces in Democratic-led cities during its immigration and public-safety crackdown. The official, not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said about 200 California National Guard troops assigned to Oregon will leave in the coming days, with roughly 100 staying in the Portland area for training. The number of Oregon Guard troops deployed in the state will also drop from 200 to 100.

In Chicago, about 200 Texas National Guard members are being ordered home, while roughly 200 additional soldiers will remain on standby at Fort Bliss, the official said. Around 300 Illinois National Guard troops will stay in the Chicago region, but they are legally barred from conducting operations with the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Northern Command said Sunday it is “shifting and rightsizing” units in Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago, though it plans to maintain a “constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city.”

The official said the upcoming holiday season may also be contributing to the drawdown.

State leaders sharply criticized the deployments, which have been a hallmark of Trump’s second-term approach to domestic enforcement. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said the president “never should have illegally deployed our troops in the first place,” adding, “We’re glad they’re finally coming home.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the administration has repeatedly failed to brief state officials and is still threatening to federalize additional troops. “This confirms what we have always known: this is about normalizing military forces in American cities,” spokesperson Matt Hill said.

Cities targeted by the Trump administration have pushed back in court. Chicago filed a lawsuit now before the U.S. Supreme Court, while in Portland, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a permanent injunction this month blocking Trump from deploying troops there, ruling he had not met the legal threshold. The administration filed an emergency motion Sunday seeking to pause that decision.

The deployments have drawn scrutiny as Trump expands the military’s role in domestic policy. Troops—including active-duty Marines—were sent to Los Angeles during immigration protests earlier this year and deployed to Washington, D.C., as part of federal interventions the administration said were necessary to address crime.

The National Guard is assigned to protect federal facilities, particularly those operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. About 100 service members will remain in Los Angeles, the defense official said.