Updates: Trump says he will send the National Guard to ‘hellhole’ Chicago

Thanks for joining us.

To catch up on today’s top updates from the Trump administration, read our story here.

Learn more about why a federal judge has deemed Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to California illegal, here.

Or, in light of today’s strike on alleged Venezuelan gang members, listen to our podcast on why the US has been beefing up its military presence in the Caribbean, here.

This live page will soon be coming to a close. Here’s a look at what happened today in US politics.

• US President Donald Trump made clear his intentions to widen his military deployments to include Chicago, Illinois, telling reporters: “We’re going in.”
• Trump noted that he was also eyeing Baltimore, Maryland, for a future troop-led crime crackdown, describing both that city and Chicago as a “hell hole”.
• In a joint news conference afterwards with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker observed that there was already a military buildup around the midwestern city.
• A federal court in San Francisco declared it was illegal for Trump to use the National Guard in June to tamp down on protests in Los Angeles, but the Trump administration is set to appeal.
• In an anti-trust ruling, a federal judge ordered Google owner Alphabet to share information about its search engines, stopping short of forcing the company to sell off its Chrome browser.
• Trump announced that the US Space Command would move its headquarters from Colorado to Alabama, citing Colorado’s use of mail-in voting as a reason.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the US had carried out an attack in the Caribbean against a vessel it accused of smuggling drugs from Venezuela.

The Department of Justice says it is weighing possible next steps for “seeking additional relief” after a US judge ruled that the tech giant Alphabet did not have to sell off assets like its Chrome browser.

Earlier in the day, Judge Amit Mehta stopped short of calling for Alphabet’s dismantling, a step sought by antitrust advocates and federal prosecutors on the case.

Alphabet owns Chrome, the search engine Google and other popular tech platforms.

Instead, Mehta ruled that the tech giant must share some information with its competitors, stopping short of what the government had sought.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a motion asking for the court system to issue a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s attempts to renew the troop deployment in his state.

Trump is seeking to renew the federalisation of the 300 remaining National Guard troops stationed in Los Angeles for another 90 days.

“The timing of Trump’s extension of the National Guard soldiers isn’t coincidental – he’s holding onto soldiers through Election Day. There was never a need, and there is not a need now for soldiers to be deployed against their communities,” Newsom said.

“The federal government hasn’t even tried to justify keeping the military in Los Angeles because they can’t. The reality is this – they want to continue their intimidation tactics to scare Californians into submission.”

Earlier in the day, a federal court sided with Newsom’s government and found that Trump’s deployment of federal forces to Los Angeles had been illegal.

Anticipating an appeal, however, the court did not order the remaining troops to be immediately withdrawn.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that it would pay salaries and benefits for state and local law enforcement officers in states that join a programme to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

The offer, which begins October 1, would also provide up to 25 percent of an officer’s salary in overtime costs and bonuses to agencies based on their performance.

Tuesday’s offer comes as the Trump administration seeks to increase cooperation with local law enforcement as part of a deportation campaign that has increasingly targeted individuals without criminal records.

Advocates have warned the approach creates distrust among vulnerable populations and local police.

The Republican-led Congress passed a spending package in July that set aside $75bn for immigration-related spending over the next four years.

That funding surge is expected to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramp up its operations.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump has offered more details about a strike the US military conducted against a boat allegedly leaving Venezuela.

He alleged that the attack killed 11 people, whom he accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” Trump said in the post.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.”

The post was accompanied by a black-and-white surveillance footage of the attack.

Trump has repeatedly accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of controlling Tren de Aragua and other criminal groups, a claim he has offered no evidence for.

An intelligence report declassified earlier this year also contradicted that assessment.

The Trump administration has often used vague assertions of links to criminal groups to justify extraordinary steps usually reserved for periods of emergency.

Leaders in Latin America have raised alarm that Trump may seek to use military force against gangs, cartels and other criminal networks on their soil.

Trump designated Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organisation” earlier this year.

In a post on X, Macron has decried the Trump administration’s decision to revoke or deny visas for Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) officials before this month’s United Nations General Assembly gathering.

“We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured in accordance with the Host Country Agreement,” Macron said, referring to the US agreement with the UN to allow world leaders to visit the organisation’s New York headquarters.

Macron is co-chairing a conference on the two-state solution with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in New York on September 22.

I just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Together, we will co-chair the Conference on the Two-State Solution in New York on September 22.

The American decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials is unacceptable.…

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 2, 2025

Following an announcement by President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that US naval forces in the Caribbean attacked a “drug vessel” that had allegedly departed from Venezuela.

“As potus just announced moments ago, today the US military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Carribean [sic] against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization,” Rubio said in a social media post.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has long accused the US of interfering in his country’s politics, and in recent days, he has framed the US naval deployment in the Caribbean as an attempt at armed intervention.

The Trump administration has argued that Maduro is closely linked to international drug-trafficking organisations, but has not provided evidence for those claims.

A declassified US intelligence memo in May also appeared to contradict Trump’s repeated assertions that Maduro is in league with gangs like Tren de Aragua, finding no evidence of cooperation.

A group of nearly 600 economists have signed a letter expressing their support for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump has moved to fire over alleged mortgage fraud.

Critics say Trump’s allegations are part of a pressure campaign against the US central bank, which Trump has tried to assert greater control over.

“Recent public statements about Governor Cook — including threats of removal and a claim that she has been fired — have arrived alongside unproven accusations,” the letter reads.

“This approach threatens the fundamental principle of central bank independence and undermines trust in one of America’s most important institutions.”

Cook is currently fighting her removal in court.

US District Court Judge Amit Mehta has stopped short of calling for Alphabet, the tech giant that owns Google, to sell off its Chrome browser and Android operating system.

But in a ruling on Tuesday, Mehta did say Alphabet had to share information it gathered from its search engine functions to qualified competitors, in order to foster healthy competition.

The judge also tightened restrictions on the exclusive agreements Alphabet uses to ensure its technology is used on smartphones and other computing devices.

The decision was the culmination of a five-year-long antitrust lawsuit that spanned the administrations of President Joe Biden and President Trump.

Federal prosecutors had argued that Alphabet, through platforms like Google, had created a monopology that stifled tech competition and innovation.

But Mehta’s ruling fell short of the remedies that prosecutors had sought, like selling off parts of the company.

Alphabet is expected to appeal.

Let’s get you up to speed on the most recent developments:

• President Donald Trump said he would send federal forces to Chicago and Baltimore, pushing a series of false claims about out-of-control violent crime in the Democrat-run cities.
• Earlier in the day, a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to California — without the consent of state officials — was illegal.
• At a news conference in the White House, Trump announced that the US Space Command would be relocated from Colorado to Alabama.
• Colorado officials have expressed disappointment in the decision, which Trump implied was partly motivated by Alabama’s more friendly political climate.
• Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that US naval forces in the Caribbean carried out a “lethal” attack on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel that departed from Venezuela.
• Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has railed against the growing US military presence off the coast of South America, portraying it as a prelude to possible armed intervention against his country.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker lashed out at Trump’s plan to send the National Guard to Chicago, saying the city “does not want troops on our streets”.

“None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer,” the Democratic governor told reporters. “For Trump, it’s about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption.”

The governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, also criticised Trump’s Space Command move to Alabama, saying that it was a waste of taxpayer money and “weakens national security”.

“I am deeply disappointed by Trump’s decision to relocate US Space Command to Alabama, as it undermines national security, wastes millions of taxpayer dollars, and disrupts the lives of military families,” he wrote on X.

I am deeply disappointed by Trump's decision to relocate U.S. Space Command to Alabama, as it undermines national security, wastes millions of taxpayer dollars, and disrupts the lives of military families. Colorado Springs is the best destination for the Space Command and the… pic.twitter.com/ETiXrqvxhp

— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) September 2, 2025

Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper responded to Trump’s announcement that he was moving the US Space Command from his state, saying that it will move the country’s space defence back years.

“Moving the Space Command headquarters weakens our national security at the worst possible time,” Hickenlooper said in a statement posted on X from the “Entire Colorado Delegation”.

“Space Command’s long-term presence in Colorado Springs has also created a large number of civilian businesses and workers on which the Command now relies,” the statement added.

Entire Colorado Delegation Statement on Space Command Relocation pic.twitter.com/Xhnu9qnP8t

— Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) September 2, 2025

The US president has finished speaking from the Oval Office. Here were the key takeaways:

• Trump said the headquarters of the US Space Command would move from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama, a move he said was motivated by the state’s political leanings.
• He said he planned to deploy the National Guard to Chicago and other cities, without giving a timeline.
• Trump said his administration would seek an “expedited ruling” from the US Supreme Court after a judge ruled his tariff policy was largely illegal without congressional approval.
• The president said the US had “shot out” a drug-smuggling boat from Venezuela, without providing further details.
• Trump downplayed speculation over his health, saying he was “very active” over the weekend.
• He said a “very serious” cut from the Federal Reserve was needed, continuing his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump says the US needs a rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

“We need a very serious cut,” Trump told reporters.

The Republican leader has been very critical of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates.

When asked if he would roll back the high tariffs recently imposed on India, Trump said that the US continues to have a good relationship with that country.

But, he added that trade between the two nations needs to be more balanced.

“We’ll get along with India very well. But India, you have to understand, for many years, it was a one-sided relationship,” Trump said.

“Only now since I came along, and because of the power that we have with tariffs, India was charging us tremendous tariffs, the highest in the world.”

India, alongside Brazil, faces tariffs on its US exports of 50 percent, the highest rate Trump has currently imposed.

Over the last several days, speculation has spread that Trump’s health could be deteriorating, since he was temporarily absent from the public eye: He made no official public appearances for nearly a week.

But in Tuesday’s news conference, Trump, 79, downplayed those rumours.

He also took a swipe at his predecessor, Joe Biden, who left office as the record-holder for the oldest sitting US president.

“I didn’t do any [news conferences] for two days and they said, ‘There must be something wrong with him,'” Trump said. “Biden wouldn’t do them for months. You wouldn’t see him, and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him. And we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape.”

Trump then pointed to his Labor Day outing to one of his golf courses in Virginia.

“I was very active over the weekend,” he added.