Trump says he is removing National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is pulling the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the administration.

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

"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again," Trump said, calling Democrat mayors and governors of those areas "greatly incompetent."

The announcement came just a few days after the Supreme Court blocked Trump's plan to send the National Guard to Chicago to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's agents.

Trump has argued that it's necessary to deploy the National Guard to these Democrat-ruled places due to surging crime, while Democrats have questioned the political motivations behind such moves.