US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of National Guard to fight crimes. (Photo: AP)US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to be jailed as the battle over National Guard deployment heats up.“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.The two leaders, both Democrats, have opposed the deployment of the Texas National Guard in Chicago, the US’s third-largest city.President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Washington. (Photo: AP)Trump vs Democrats over National GuardBoth Illinois and Chicago are suing the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guard troops despite objections from local and state officials. While the Trump administration has claimed that the National Guard deployment was aimed at fighting crimes, his critics point out that troops are being sent only to Democrat-led cities.Democrats have accused Trump of a federal takeover of their cities in the pretext of fighting crime, when several Republican-run cities have a higher crime rate.Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, in Elwood, a suburb of Chicago. (Photo: AP)Trump has used the recent protests outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities to suggest that ICE agents are being attacked there.On Saturday, Trump federalised 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, and on Monday, another 400 Texas National Guard troops were federalised by the Trump administration to deploy to Illinois and Oregon.Members of the Texas National Guard arrived in Chicago on Tuesday and have been camping at the US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, Illinois.Illinois and Chicago sued to block the deployment of troops to the city on Monday, calling the move “patently unlawful”. US District Judge April Perry declined to immediately block the deployment and gave the Justice Department until midnight Wednesday to respond to the suit.A protester in a frog costume walks toward a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland. (Photo: AP)Trump could use Insurrection ActTrump also suggested that he might use the Insurrection Act, a law authorising the president to deploy military forces on US soil, if courts and governors continue to block his deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic-led cities.The Insurrection Act can be invoked when there are “unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages or rebellion” against the US government’s authority. When the president deems those conditions have been met, the law gives the president the power to use the armed forces to take actions “to enforce those laws or suppress the rebellion.”It is not just Illinois; Oregon is also challenging the National Guard deployment in the city of Portland.Another lawsuit was filed on September 4 by Washington Attorney General Brian Schwalb, challenging the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard as part of an emergency order issued by Trump to stem what the president called “out of control” crime.Twenty-three states have aligned with the Trump administration’s stance that the president has the authority to bring in the National Guard, while 22 states back Washington’s position, with the support coming on party lines.