The Trump administration branded Chicago a “war zone” on Sunday (October 5, 2025) as a justification for deploying soldiers against the will of local Democratic officials, while a judge blocked the White House from sending troops to another Democratic-run city.

An escalating political crisis across the country pits President Donald Trump’s anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab.

In the newest flashpoint, Mr. Trump late on Saturday (October 4, 2025) authorised deployment of 300 National Guard soldiers to Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, despite the opposition of elected leaders including the mayor and State Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the move on Sunday (October 5, 2025), claiming on Fox News, that Chicago is “a war zone.”

But Mr. Pritzker, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, accused Republicans of aiming to sow “mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone, so that they can send in even more troops.”

“They need to get the heck out,” he said.

A CBS poll released on Sunday (October 5, 2025) found that 42% of Americans favour deploying the National Guard to cities, compared to 58% who oppose it.

Mr. Trump – who last Tuesday (September 30, 2025) spoke of using the military for a “war from within” – shows no sign of backing off his hardline campaign.

In an untrue claim Sunday (October 5, 2025), he said, “Portland is burning to the ground. It’s insurrectionists all over the place.”

Key ally Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, echoed the president’s rhetoric Sunday (October 5, 2025), telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that National Guard troops deployed in the U.S. capital Washington had responded to a “literal war zone.”

No to ‘martial law’

But Mr. Trump’s campaign to use the military on home soil hit a roadblock late on Saturday (October 4, 2025) in Portland, Oregon, when a court ruled the deployment was unlawful.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly called Portland “war-ravaged,” but U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary block, saying “the president’s determination was simply untethered to the facts.”

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” Ms. Immergut wrote in her ruling.

Although Portland has seen scattered attacks on federal officers and property, the Mr. Trump administration failed to demonstrate “that those episodes of violence were part of an organised attempt to overthrow the government as a whole” – thereby justifying military force, she said.

One of Mr. Trump’s key advisors, Stephen Miller, called the judge’s order “legal insurrection.”

Chicago shooting

Aside from the deployment of troops, the Trump crackdown is being spearheaded by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The department is being rapidly expanded both in personnel and duties.

ICE raids around the country – primarily in cities run by Democrats – have seen groups of masked, armed men in unmarked cars and armoured vehicles target residential neighbourhoods and businesses, sparking protests.

Days of tense scenes in Chicago turned violent on Saturday (October 4, 2025) when a federal officer shot a motorist that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said had been armed and rammed one of their patrol vehicles.

DHS officials have said that ICE officers also shot and killed 38-year-old immigrant Silverio Villegas Gozalez during a traffic stop on September 12, accusing him of allegedly trying to flee the scene and dragging an ICE officer with the vehicle.

Some National Guard units patrolling the nation’s capital at the direction of President Donald Trump have started carrying firearms, an escalation of his military deployment that makes good on a directive issued late last week by his defense secretary.

A Defense Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly said some units on certain missions would be armed — some with handguns and others with rifles. The spokesperson said that all units with firearms have been trained and are operating under strict rules for use of force.

An Associated Press photographer on Sunday (August 24, 2025) saw members of the South Carolina National Guard outside Union Station with holstered handguns.

The development in Mr. Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the law enforcement authority of state and local governments comes as he is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York.

President Donald Trump on Sunday (August 24, 2025) threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the troops.’”

His latest pledge to ramp up the military’s presence in ‘left-leaning’ cities came as at least some National Guard units in the nation’s capital began carrying weapons over the weekend, making good on a directive issuedon Friday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The most recent developments in Mr. Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the law enforcement authority of state and local governments came after he said he was considering Chicago and New York for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital. Thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are now patrolling the district’s streets, drawing sporadic protests from local residents.

Mr. Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power aimed at combatting crime and homelessness in Washington. Mr. Moore last week invited Mr. Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.