Trump’s Threat to Invoke Insurrection Act Deepens Clash with Democratic Cities

Washington, Oct. 7 — President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to invoke a centuries-old federal anti-insurrection law to expand military deployments into U.S. cities has escalated tensions with Democratic-led states and municipalities. On Tuesday, hundreds of Texas National Guard troops prepared to patrol the streets of Chicago amid growing legal challenges to the move.

Trump said Monday that he was considering invoking the Insurrection Act—a law enacted more than 200 years ago—to override court rulings or local opposition restricting his deployment of Guard troops.

“We have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump told reporters. “If people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that.”

The Insurrection Act grants the president authority to deploy the military domestically during emergencies to quell unrest. Historically, it has been used only in exceptional circumstances and typically at the request of state governors. The last invocation occurred in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush deployed federal forces during the Los Angeles riots.

If enforced, Trump’s action would mark a sharp escalation in his campaign to send military forces into Democratic-controlled cities — an extraordinary assertion of presidential power. In a recent address to top military commanders, Trump even suggested using U.S. cities as “training grounds” for the armed forces.

Over the past week, Trump ordered National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, following earlier deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. These actions were taken over the strong objections of local leaders, who argue that the president’s portrayal of “lawless cities” misrepresents current conditions.

Local officials in Chicago and Portland reported that recent demonstrations against Trump’s immigration policies had been largely peaceful and that both cities have seen declines in violent crime this year. However, confrontations between protesters and federal agents intensified over the weekend, as officers used tear gas and other crowd-control measures amid the president’s insistence on a military presence.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker accused Trump of deliberately seeking to provoke unrest for political gain.

“Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and pawns in his unlawful attempt to militarize our nation’s cities,” Pritzker said Monday.

The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago filed a joint lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to block the federalization of 300 Illinois National Guard troops and the transfer of 400 Texas Guard troops to Chicago. During a court hearing, Justice Department attorneys acknowledged that hundreds of Texas-based troops were already en route to Illinois.

U.S. District Judge April Perry allowed the deployment to continue temporarily but ordered the federal government to submit a detailed response by Wednesday.

In a separate ruling, a federal judge in Oregon on Sunday temporarily blocked the administration from deploying National Guard forces to police Portland.

The National Guard, a state-based reserve force, generally operates under the authority of governors and is primarily mobilized for natural disasters or local emergencies. The Posse Comitatus Act typically prohibits the U.S. military from engaging in domestic law enforcement, but the Insurrection Act serves as a legal exception, granting the president broad discretion during periods of civil unrest.