US President Donald Trump’s warning to invoke the Insurrection Act has intensified a growing legal showdown with Democratic-led cities as hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas prepared to patrol Chicago streets.
Trump said he may use the centuries-old law to bypass opposition from local and state leaders.
He called the protests violent and insisted action was needed. However, Critics said, violence is being exaggerated and accuse Trump of politicising the military. Illinois and Chicago filed suit to block the federalisation of troops.
A judge allowed the deployment to continue temporarily while demanding a federal response. In Oregon, another judge blocked Guard deployments to Portland. The confrontation raises questions about presidential power and the role of the military at home.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that he might use the Insurrection Act to send the U.S. military if federal courts stop him from using the National Guard to protect federal buildings and carry out law enforcement duties.
This statement came after a federal judge blocked Trump from sending National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, a city he said had been taken over by left-wing “domestic terrorists.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he didn’t think he needed to use the law “yet”, but added, “If I had to enact it, I’d do it, if people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up”, as stated in the report by Politico.
Trump criticized the federal judge’s decision, saying, “You look at what’s happening with Portland over the years, it’s a burning hell hole. And then you have a judge that lost her way that tries to pretend that there’s no problem.”
What is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a U.S. federal law that allows the president to use the military or take control of state National Guards to stop rebellions, violence, or any insurrection against the United States.
Earlier on Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the government was facing what he called a “legal insurrection”. Miller explained that the court rulings blocking the White House agenda were like *“an insurrection against the laws and Constitution of the United States.”
He added, “We need to have district courts in this country that see themselves as being under the laws and Constitution and not being able to take for themselves powers that are reserved solely for the president”, as mentioned in the report by Politico
During the 2024 campaign, Trump has talked about using the Insurrection Act, he said he would use it to stop unrest. At the end of his first term, some of Trump’s supporters urged him to use the law to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, according to the report by Politico.
What is the Insurrection Act Trump is talking about?
It is a law from 1807 that lets the U.S. president use the military or National Guard to stop violence or rebellion.
Why did Trump threaten to use the Insurrection Act in Portland?
He said federal courts blocked him from sending National Guard troops to stop what he called “domestic terrorists.