USA – The Trump administration seeks to deploy National Guard personnel in several states across the US. The latest is the deployment of 200 California National Guard troops to Oregon, and an additional 400 Texas National Guard personnel to Illinois, among other states.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the federalization of 400 Texas National Guard troops for an initial period of 60 days to “perform federal protection missions where needed, including in the cities of Portland and Chicago,” according to a government document.

Some 100 California National Guard troops have been deployed to Oregon, with another 100 reportedly preparing to follow, Oregon state Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Sunday in a statement posted on the US social media company X’s platform.

He said Oregon, California and the city of Portland have filed legal action to block the “unlawful deployment” of California National Guard troops to Oregon.

At the hearing, the three governments will ask the court to block the federal government’s “illegal deployment,” he added.

“No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote on X.

“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops,” he said.

Pritzker urged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to withdraw support for the move and to refuse coordination.

“There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent or cooperation,” he stressed.

The National Guard must not be used as “political props,” said Pritzker, calling on all Americans to “speak up and help stop this madness.”

“This action appears to (be) intentional to circumvent yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Sunday, referring to US District Judge Karin Immergut’s decision Saturday to temporarily block the federalization of 200 Oregon National Guard members to the city of Portland, where protests have taken place near a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in recent weeks.

“There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security,” said Kotek. “Oregon is our home, not a military target.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately responded to President Donald Trump’s move to send some of his state’s guardsmen to Oregon, who were previously federalized by the president during protests in Los Angeles, by announcing a lawsuit against the administration.

“We’re suing Donald Trump,” Newsom wrote on X. “His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime. It’s about power.”

“He is using our military as political pawns to build up his own ego,” he added. “It’s appalling. It’s un-American. And it must stop.”

Newsom’s office said earlier that about 300 previously federalized California guard members could eventually be deployed.

Legal and political experts said Trump was bypassing the judge’s decision by using federalized guardsmen from California to carry out his original agenda.

The White House released a statement confirming the deployment.

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement,” said spokesperson Abigail Jackson.

Newsom called the president’s action “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.”

“The Trump administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words – ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the president himself (Immergut), as political opponents.”

“The commander-in-chief is using the US military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom continued. “We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.”