Trump withdraws federal National Guard from Portland, LA, Chicago

The Trump administration withdrew all federalized National Guard troops from U.S. cities by early 2026, following President Donald Trump’s December 2025 announcement that “we will be back” if crime takes root again in left-leaning cities.

The United States Northern Command – the military command responsible for homeland defense and coordinating defense support during domestic emergencies – states on its website that all National Guard Title 10 troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, were demobilized on January 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 properties amid immigration unrest. Troops have been sent to cities that have also historically struggled with spiraling crime, including during 2020, when the country saw the largest annual increase in murders since the FBI began tracking such data in the 1960s.

More than 5,000 troops in Los Angeles, about 500 in Chicago and 200 in Portland, Oregon, have been discharged, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

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All federalized National Guard troops were withdrawn from U.S. cities in January 2026, following President Trump’s withdrawal announcement in December. (Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images)

The White House directed Fox News Digital to Trump’s December 2025 withdrawal announcement when contacted for comment on the Washington Post report.

“We are withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced due to the presence of these great patriots in these cities, and ONLY because of this,” Trump wrote on December 31, 2025. “Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago would have disappeared without the intervention of the federal government.”

He added that the troops would return — but probably only when crime increases in left-leaning cities, adding that he was intrigued by local liberal leaders who would want the troops out of town.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime starts to skyrocket again. It’s only a matter of time!” he wrote. “It’s hard to believe that these Democratic mayors and governors, all very incompetent, would want us gone, especially given the great progress that has been made???”

Title 10 troops serve under active duty federal orders, separate from Guard forces deployed elsewhere and under different legal authorities.

For example, there is still a National Guard presence in Washington, D.C., because service members there remain on duty under non-federal status, while National Guard troops in New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, are also still on the ground because they are deployed under separate agreements between their governors and the administration.

The thousands of National Guard troops deployed as Title 10 troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, are no longer mobilized, however, according to the Northern Command website.

The U.S. National Guard is deployed around downtown Los Angeles, June 8, 2025, following an anti-immigration protest raid the previous night. (Eric Thayer/Associated Press)

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Local leaders and Democratic critics in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago slammed the administration for the move, saying it was an unnecessary and politically charged escalation that bypassed governors, leading to lawsuits and legal hurdles. In December 2025, for example, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a deployment to Chicago, citing that the administration had failed to “identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”

Trump vows not to help blue cities during riots and tasks ICE and Border Patrol with protecting federal property.

President Donald Trump met with members of the National Guard in Washington, DC, in August 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)

“President Trump turned the National Guard against the communities it was sworn to serve. It is illegal and immoral,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in October 2025, as the state legally challenged the administration over federalization. “The National Guard deserves better than to be treated like Trump’s toy soldiers – and when they return to California command, we will put them back to doing the real work they signed up to do.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said murders plunged to historic lows as Trump stepped up arrests, deportations and crackdowns on gangs, citing new crime data. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

The withdrawal of federalized troops comes as the administration touts violent crime trends across the country.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) reported in February that, based on data from 67 of the nation’s largest police departments, homicides overall declined by 19 percent in U.S. cities, robberies by 20 percent, and aggravated assaults by 10 percent.

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“This is a direct result of President Trump’s aggressive and pragmatic approach to public safety,” the White House said Wednesday of the data.

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“By increasing federal resources to Democratic-run cities that had become war zones, removing wild illegal criminals from our streets, supporting police and prosecutors, and rejecting the weakness of the radical left, President Trump’s decisive actions turned the tide, saved countless lives, and restored peace to communities long abandoned by Democratic politicians who prioritized criminals over citizens.”