‘We’re Ready’: Blue State Prosecutors Share War Room Strategies To Counter Trump’s Militarization Of American Cities

Democratic attorneys general across the country have been working together for months to build legal strategies against President Donald Trump’s push to send military forces into American cities. The teamwork involves virtual meetings where state prosecutors share research, legal cases, and tactics to challenge what they see as illegal troop deployments. Five attorneys general confirmed that this work has picked up speed as Trump keeps sending National Guard troops to different places like Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Portland, and Chicago.

The legal fights have had mixed results for Democrats. They got temporary wins in Oregon when a Trump-appointed federal judge blocked troop deployments, but an appeals court later paused that order. In Illinois, a judge said no to a restraining order to stop troops from being sent to Chicago, and soldiers from Texas showed up in the city on Tuesday. Even with these losses, the attorneys general say their prep work has helped them act fast when Trump picks new cities.

According to Politico, California Attorney General Rob Bonta talked about the threat of Trump using the Insurrection Act, which would give the president bigger powers to send troops inside the country. “There is no insurrection anywhere in the country by any conceivable definition of the term,” Bonta said, adding, “We’re ready.” The Democratic prosecutors say Trump does not have legal reasons for the deployments and is instead doing this to get back at cities run by his opponents.

Trump Administration Accused Of Sending Mixed Messages

The Trump administration has given different reasons for the military deployments in different places. In court, administration lawyers say Guard troops are needed to protect federal employees and buildings. But Trump himself has said in public that he wants to use American cities “as training grounds” for troops. On Wednesday, he wrote on social media that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail” for reportedly failing to protect immigration officers in the city.

Democratic attorneys general say these different messages make their legal arguments stronger. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield explained that getting in front of judges quickly lets them have “an independent arbiter” to look at the administration’s claims. The prosecutors have been sharing winning legal strategies across state lines, with Bonta pointing out that staff members swap research and legal cases that have worked in different federal courts.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said the legal fight should push Democrats going into the midterm elections. “If you start winning elections, you’ll be able to control the branches of government that ensure that we continue to have the constitutional order that I think we now view as very much under threat,” Torrez said. The attorneys general know that Trump’s heavy use of emergency powers and the Supreme Court’s frequent rulings in his favor create ongoing problems for their work.