US President Donald Trump authorised the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets amid ongoing protests in Chicago on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), marking the latest escalation of his use of federal intervention in cities.

The same day, a similar mobilisation of 200 National Guard troops in Oregon was temporarily blocked after a federal judge found Trump was probably overstepping his legal authority in responding to relatively small protests near a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson confirmed the president had authorised using the Illinois National Guard members, citing what she called “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness” that local leaders have not quelled.

The Department of H

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