WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Oct. 6 he may invoke the Insurrection Act to send the military to U.S. cities if judges block his deployment of National Guard troops.

His statement came as hundreds of California National Guardsmen are in limbo at a Portland military base as President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders wage a feverish legal battle over his attempts to deploy soldiers in American cities.

Trump ordered the Oregon Guard late last month to move into Portland, but local leaders sued and a federal judge temporarily halted the deployment. Then, Trump deployed California and Texas Guard troops. Then the Oregon judge stopped all federal troops from entering.

A similar standoff is now unfolding in Chicago.

Here's what to know about the National Guard deployments.

Trump's Portland deployment sets up of legal fight

Trump's first attempt to go after Portland demonstrators was Sept. 28: he ordered 200 Oregon National Guard troops to the region for an initial 60 days, according to court documents.

The troops, he said, would "protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists," and would use "Full Force, if necessary," he wrote in a Truth Social post.

After Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, filed suit, a federal judge temporarily shut down the deployment on Oct. 4.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, ruled the deployment was unnecessary because the demonstrations did not amount to a "rebellion," and law enforcement was capable of handling the protests without military intervention.

National Guard Whac-a-mole

The Trump administration then took up a new strategy – switch states.

Hours after the judge barred the Oregon troops, he tapped California guardsmen to take on the same job. Early Oct. 5, around 100 California National Guard troops arrived at the Portland Air National Guard base, followed by another 99 guardsmen that afternoon, according to court documents. That prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to join Kotek's lawsuit in an attempt to take back control of his state's troops.

The administration also ordered 400 members of the Texas National Guard to "perform federal protection missions where needed, including in the cities of Portland and Chicago," according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth's order to the Texas National Guard – which came down with Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's permission – notably left open that the troops could be deployed "where needed."

Immergut then issued an order, temporarily halting all federal National Guard deployments to Portland.

Trump appealed that ruling on Oct. 6, seeking to wrest control of those troops.

Joseph Nunn, a legal expert at the Brennan Center who specializes in National Guard deployments, said at the heart of Immergut's ruling was "whether the facts on the ground justify deploying troops."

"The fundamental problem for the Trump administration in Portland is that what they are saying is happening in Portland simply isn’t true," Nunn added.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said of Immergut's ruling, "With all due respect to that judge, I think her opinion is untethered in reality and in the law."

"The ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside," Leavitt said. "We are very confident in the president's legal authority to do this."

'Chipocalypse now'

While the battle over Portland played out, Trump also ordered 300 Illinois National Guardsmen into Chicago on Oct. 4 on similar orders. He had also threatened an Illinois deployment in taunting comments and social media posts, including one that read "Chipocalypse now" in a reference to the Vietnam War-era film "Apocalypse Now" which depicted Trump in the foreground as the lieutenant colonel from the movie with helicopters flying over a burning Chicago skyline behind him.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, sued to stop the deployment on Oct. 6.

"Let me be clear – Donald Trump is using our servicemembers as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation's cities," Pritzker said at a news conference.

Trump deploys military to multiple cities

The Trump administration also dispatched National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, earlier this year. Both deployments drew similar lawsuits from Democratic leaders.

In the nation's capital, more than 2,000 troops from the city's own National Guard force and other states have been deployed since mid-August. Those troops have been assigned to pick up trash and help out with soup kitchens, among other "beautification" projects. Brian Schwalb, the city's attorney general, filed suit in early September to end the deployment.

The Trump administration sent around 5,000 California National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles earlier this year to suppress protests against a wave of aggressive deportations. All but a few hundred of National Guard soldiers – some of whom were those dispatched to Portland over the weekend – have gone home.

A judge later ruled that deployment was illegal and violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids National Guard members acting on federal orders from carrying out law enforcement functions. That ruling is still on appeal by the Trump administration.

Trump has also deployed troops to fight crime in Memphis – with the consent of the state's Republican governor – and to assist immigration enforcement agents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump's use of National Guard is 'unprecedented'

Nunn, from the Brennan Center, said Trump's wielding of the National Guard is "unprecedented in American history."

"The president seems to want the U.S. military to spend a lot more time pointing their weapons at Americans than defending Americans," he said.

"That is a dramatic shift from how we have always done things in the United States," Nunn said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National Guard troops in limbo as Trump battles courts over Chicago, Portland deployments

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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