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Greetings and welcome to the most recent updates in US politics. We start with the report that a small number of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Greater Chicago region, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details that have not been officially released.

The troops are in the urban area to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the personnel were equipped.

Background Situation

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments come as state military forces have begun arriving in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Additional Developments

• The president declared that the conflicting parties have agreed to a provisional agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, and release captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'legal principle' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the core legal principle that mandates that the authorities provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
• All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "political discussion" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called political content creators. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
• GOP senators rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been murdered by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by political activists in Portland is: one.