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President Donald Trump has said multiple times this week that he may invoke the Insurrection Act to send federal troops — beyond the National Guard — to cities across the country.
Trump has claimed he is deploying National Guard troops to cities like Portland and Chicago to crack down on crime or assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — despite crime rates decreasing in both cities over the past years. In reality, experts have noted, Trump is likely seeking to deploy troops to Democratic-led cities as a way to advance his authoritarian and anti-immigrant agenda.
Portland and the state of Oregon have sued the Trump administration, and a federal judge has blocked the National Guard from being deployed to the city, including from other states. Chicago and Illinois have filed a similar lawsuit, and although a judge hasn’t ruled on the matter, a hearing is scheduled for this Thursday to determine whether Trump’s orders to send troops there are legal.
Within their lawsuit, Illinois and Chicago both note that Trump has frequently derided Chicago in the past due to its leaders’ opposition to his policies.
When asked by reporters on Monday what his next steps were, Trump indicated that he’d be open to using the Insurrection Act to get what he wants.
“If I had to enact it, I’d do it,” Trump said, stating he might do so if “courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.”
“You look at what’s happening with Portland over the years, it’s a burning hell hole,” Trump added. “And then you have a judge that lost her way that tries to pretend that there’s no problem.”
There is zero evidence demonstrating that an “insurrection” is happening in the city.
Trump reiterated his stance on Tuesday, responding positively, once again, to the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act.
“If you look at Chicago — Chicago is a great city where’s a lot of crime and if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do that job,” Trump said.
In reality, violent crime was decreasing in Chicago before Trump sought to send a federal presence to the city, with the first six months of 2025 showing a 32 percent reduction in homicides and a 37 percent drop in shootings compared to the same period the year before.
Trump’s authorization of the Insurrection Act could have grave repercussions, including increased crackdowns on protests and thousands of immigrants being detained without respect for their due process rights.
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows a president to call forward any military personnel they want if they deem it necessary to do so to address “cases of insurrection or obstruction to the laws.” Any legal challenge to Trump’s use of the law would likely center on that aspect, forcing the White House’s legal team to prove that demonstrations against ICE or other federal agents are an example of insurrection or obstruction of their work.
A case challenging Trump using such presidential powers would likely make its way to the Supreme Court, where a 6-3 conservative majority — including three justices picked by Trump himself — would decide on the matter.
An Economist/YouGov poll published on Tuesday shows that most Americans would oppose a military presence in larger cities. Per that survey, only 37 percent say they are in favor of such a plan, while 52 percent say they are opposed.
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