Trump Says He’s Withdrawing National Guard from Chicago, LA, Portland — But Adds ‘We Will Come Back’

Sarah RumpfDec 31st, 2025, 4:29 pm
 
Texas National Guard members

Screenshot via ABC News.

President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account Wednesday that he was withdrawing National Guard troops from several Democratic cities — but added a prediction that they would be sent back in the future.

Multiple cities around the U.S. have been sparring with the Trump administration over sending ICE agents and National Guard troops into cities to crack down on immigration, crime, and protests, over the objections of local and state elected officials.

Several legal challenges have been filed by the cities and states affected. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision, that Trump had failed to establish the “exceptional” circumstances that would legally authorize him to federalize the National Guard troops in Chicago.

In Trump’s Truth Social post, he wrote that the National Guard troops were being removed from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland “despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities,” and predicted “[w]e will come back…when crime begins to soar again,” which he believed was “[o]nly a question of time!”

He concluded by attacking the “incompetent” “Democrat Mayors and Governors” for wanting the federal troops to leave “considering all the great progress that has been made.”

The full text of Trump’s post:

We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact. Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in. We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time! It is hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made??? President DJT

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.