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Hello and welcome to the most recent developments in US politics. We begin with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has started protecting government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on background basis in order to discuss operational details that have not been made public.

The military personnel are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the troops were armed.

Political Context

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"The city's mayor should be in prison for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump's remarks come as state military forces have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the Trump administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Other Updates

• Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have agreed to a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and free captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called political content creators. The influencers report on liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• Senate Republicans voted down a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's unprecedented deployment of the military to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.