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The National Guard will be removed from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, for now, following efforts to reduce crime in those Democratic-run cities, but it was "only a question of time" when troops will return, President Donald Trump said Wednesday after a series of legal setbacks. 

"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in."

The National Guard was deployed to the cities in an effort to curb crime, which Trump said had gotten out of control in those cities. 

DEMOCRATS TRY TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON ‘STATES’ RIGHTS’ TO DEFY, UPEND TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD PLAN

Members of the Texas National Guard assemble in Elwood, Illinois, at the Army Reserve Training Center in the southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7. 2025. The Trump administration on Wednesday said it will remove National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.  (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

California, Illinois and Oregon responded with lawsuits seeking to block the move, arguing that federalizing the troops was an unlawful overreach. Federal judges eventually blocked the deployments.

Fox News Digital has reached out to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, as well as the mayors of Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago. 

In a tweet, Newsom said Trump's federalization of the National Guard was illegal. 

"About time @realDonaldTrump admitted defeat," he said. "We've said it from day one: the federal takeover of California's National Guard is illegal."

"Trump is backing away because there was never a legal justification for deploying troops in L.A. and cities across the country," Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, wrote on X. "The Constitution still applies to presidents who wish it didn’t. Angelenos stood together. We saw through it. The courts saw through it."

"My office has not yet received official notification that the remaining federalized Oregon National Guard troops can return home," Kotek said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "They were never lawfully deployed to Portland and there was no need for their presence. If President Trump has finally chosen to follow court orders and demobilize our troops, that’s a big win for Oregonians and for the rule of law."

On X, Pritzker accused Trump of lying about why the troops will be removed. 

"Donald Trump’s lying again," he wrote. "He lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down."

In his post, Trump said the federal government would be back, "in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again."

TRUMP SAYS HE'D CONSIDER INVOKING INSURRECTION ACT AS COURTS, GOVERNORS SEEK TO BLOCK HIS CRIME CRACKDOWN

"The Atlantic" contributing writer Juliette Kayyem said Trump endangered U.S. National Guard soldiers when he deployed in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)

"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???" he added. 

The National Guard typically operates under the control of governors, but can be called into federal service by the president only under certain circumstances.

On Dec. 10, a federal judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and ordered them returned to the control of Newsom.

As of Dec. 28, Chicago recorded 412 murders, down from 585 in the same time frame in 2024, according to police data. 

"Chicago recorded the fewest homicides in 2025 than in any year this century, with totals far below previous spikes. The city hasn’t recorded figures this low since the mid 1960's," Johnson wrote Wednesday on X. 

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Portland saw reoccurring anti-ICE protests in late 2025, with demonstrators clashing with authorities. 

In Los Angeles, federal authorities were sometimes met with violent resistance during anti-ICE protests earlier in the year as the Trump administration tamped up its mass deportation program targeting criminal illegal immigrants.