Democratic Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker on Sunday reported on social media: “This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.”
MAGA-aligned Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed Pritzker’s report about troop deployment, replying: “I fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials. You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it.”
[NOTE: The Trump administration claims local law enforcement in Chicago is not co-operating properly — and protecting — federal forces in the city, where a recent ICE strike on an apartment building — with agents dropping onto the roof from helicopters and smashing down doors to drag residents out — marked an unprecedented use of military style tactics on American citizens by ICE.]
I fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials.
You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it.
No Guard can match the training, skill, and… https://t.co/7SUk9XlMBn
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 6, 2025
Abbott added the claim that “No Guard can match the training, skill, and expertise of the Texas National Guard. They defend our country with pride. America must also know that Texas still has thousands of National Guard assisting with the Border security.”
On X, Abbott’s claims are generally being cheered by MAGA supporters (“let him know what leadership looks like!”) while Democrats accuse Abbott and Trump of “straight-up authoritarian overreach.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Chicago native, struck the latter note and echoed Pritzker’s concerns, calling Trump’s deployments “outrageous assaults on Illinois and Oregon.” (Trump has also ordered Guard troops to Portland, OR.)
Clinton evoked “states’ rights” — which Republicans have long held up as a cornerstone principle protecting states from the federal government overreach — saying that if state’s rights were truly meaningful, then “they must include the right to not get invaded by another state in peacetime.”
If “states’ rights” mean anything, they must include the right to not get invaded by another state in peacetime.
Americans everywhere: Speak up and stand against Trump’s outrageous assaults on Illinois and Oregon. pic.twitter.com/3dBsWRMioi
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 6, 2025
The X account “Akash Maniam” which often criticizes the Trump administration and its approach to the Russian-Ukrainian war replied to Abbott’s statement with what it presented as a similar situation in a famously autocratic nation: “The Soviets would regularly deploy forces from one area to another, since local forces were less likely to go after their own community.”