Supreme Court rules on legality of Trump National Guard deployment

The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to allow the president to proceed with the immediate deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago — which would deal a major, if temporary, blow to the president. Donald Trump as he seeks to expand his federalization campaign across the United States

The justices rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Judge April Perry that blocked the troop deployment. An appeals court also refused to intervene. The Supreme Court took more than two months to act.

Three justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, publicly dissented. The result is a rare setback at the Supreme Court for Trump, who had scored repeated victories in emergency appeals since taking office again in January.

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Members of the Washington DC National Guard are seen in downtown Washington near the US Capitol building on August 19, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/File photo/Reuters)

This update comes after the Trump administration last week asked the high court to stay a lower court order blocking Trump from immediately deploying federalized National Guard troops to Chicago.

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court that a federal judge’s earlier order, as well as the partial stay unanimously granted by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, “inappropriately encroach on the President’s authority and unnecessarily endanger federal personnel and assets.”

Blocking the deployment of National Guard troops, Sauer argued, risks “endangering the lives and safety of DHS officers” and prevents officials from taking what he considers “reasonable and lawful steps” to protect federal agents from the “violent resistance” that they say has persisted in Chicago.

Lawyers for Illinois and Chicago, however, disputed that assertion.

They argued in their own Supreme Court filing that the Trump administration’s arguments “rest on misinterpretations of the factual record or on lower courts’ opinions of legal principles.”

They also cited the lower court judge’s order, which ruled that the administration’s statements about the nature of protests in Chicago and nearby Broadview were “unreliable” and exaggerated the violence and difficulties police officers faced in enforcing the law.

“UNATTACHED TO REALITY”: LAWYERS FOR TRUMP, OREGON AND SPAR ON NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT DURING COURT CLASH

The United States Capitol is seen as members of the National Guard patrol the National Mall in Washington, DC, September 8, 2025. ((Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images))

“As the district court found, state and local law enforcement conducted isolated protest activities in Illinois, and there is no credible evidence to the contrary,” attorneys for the state of Illinois said Monday.

The update comes as Trump has sought to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to a growing list of Democratic-led cities, despite stated opposition from local and state leaders.

He faced opposition from a handful of federal courts, including Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who described Trump’s actions in a restraining order this month as “out of touch with reality” and not reflective of the situation on the ground.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit then stayed his order, allowing Trump to proceed with his deployment in Portland.

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Members of the National Guard were among the protesters at Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)

In Washington, a federal judge will hear updates on the status of Trump’s National Guard deployments in Washington on Friday, after the city’s attorney general said in a new court filing that it appears National Guard troops will remain deployed at least until summer 2026.

It’s unclear whether that’s the Trump administration’s plan — and if so, how many of the 2,500 National Guard troops initially sent to Washington in August would remain in the nation’s capital until then.

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The fight comes as Trump officials say the deployments are a necessary step to quell what they have called a rise in violent crime and protect against threats from protesters, including anti-ICE demonstrations.

Democrats, meanwhile, argue that Trump failed to meet the necessary criteria to federalize National Guard troops under USC § 12406, which allows a president to do so in the event of a foreign invasion, if there is a “danger of rebellion” or in cases where regular officers are unable to enforce the law.

They also argued that Trump’s characterizations are hyperbolic and merely an excuse to “federalize” Democratic-run cities and states.