Military

Trump Backs Off Sending National Guard To San Francisco

California National Guard are positioned at the Federal Building, June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

Published October 24, 2025 at 3:26pm ET

President Trump has changed course. After threatening to send the National Guard into San Francisco, he’s backing off.

The move caps days of tension after the president’s threat rattled local officials and immigrant advocates who feared mass arrests and military-style enforcement in one of the nation’s most immigrant-rich cities. The White House now says the city will get a chance to handle its problems on its own, but many remain skeptical about whether the administration’s pause will last.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the federal government had been preparing to “surge” San Francisco on Saturday but decided to hold off after a call from Mayor Daniel Lurie—who Trump said was “making substantial progress.”

The president said he told the mayor it would be “faster, stronger and safer” if federal forces intervened but agreed to “give him a chance.” He ended the post by writing, “Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned.”

President Trump says he’s backing off plans to “surge” San Francisco with federal forces after a call with Mayor Daniel Lurie. He says the city deserves a chance to handle its problems on its own.

‘We’ll Be Watching’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the decision during Thursday’s press briefing.

She said Trump spoke directly with the mayor, who promised to address the city’s problems without federal intervention.

“The president heard him out,” she said. “He said, ‘Okay, I’ll give you a chance. We’ll be watching. And if you need us, we are here.’”

Military.com reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not comment further beyond referring to the president’s Truth Social post.

Reporters raise their hands to as a question as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Advocates Still on Alert

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco told Military.com the announcement eased some fears but not all.

“We welcome that decision not to send them,” said Jehan Laner, a senior staff attorney with the group. “But a lot of people remain vigilant in case there are mass arrests elsewhere in the Bay.”

For days, talk of troops had the city on edge. Families kept children home. Workers skipped jobs. Businesses lost customers.

“People didn’t want to be harassed on their way to work or asked to show papers,” Laner said. “Even rumors of immigration activity were enough to cause panic.”

Community networks activated rapid response hotlines to verify reports of immigration raids. Legal volunteers stood by to help anyone detained.

Advocates continue urging residents to know their rights, the right to stay silent, to call an attorney, and to refuse entry without a signed judicial warrant.

“Administrative warrants don’t allow agents to enter your home,” Laner said. “We’re reminding people to stay calm, stay informed, and stay organized.”

Even with the president’s pause, Laner says anxiety has not fully faded.

“We’ve seen before when the Guard wasn’t supposed to come, and then they came,” she said. “People still feel like they’re under a target.”

© Copyright 2025 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com, please submit your request here ^[6].

Video Shows U.S. Strike on Boat Carrying Gang Members

U.S. Strike Captured on Infrared Video (DoD)

Military.com | By Darius Radzius ^[1]

Published October 24, 2025 at 10:30am ET

Video was published online by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth showing a United States military strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, killing six purported gang members.

Hegseth said Friday in a post on X that the crew worked for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and that the vessel carried narcotics along a route used by smugglers heading toward the U.S. The "lethal kinetic strike" was directed by President Donald Trump, per the secretary.

"The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," Hegseth wrote on X. "Six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters—and was the first strike at night. All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike."

A video accompanying the post shows a small craft bursting into flames after being hit.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces a U.S. strike that killed six gang members.

The Pentagon has not released proof of what was on board. Officials have not identified the six who were killed.

"If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda," Hegseth added. "Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you."

This marks the latest in a series of deadly interdictions targeting suspected narco-terrorists in the Caribbean.

Just two days earlier, on Oct. 22, Hegseth announced via X that now-deceased terrorists were supposedly engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific. Three males on board the vessel targeted by U.S. forces were killed and no U.S. military members were harmed.

The defense secretary made a similar statement then, discouraging foreign individuals and gangs from harming the U.S. and its citizens: "These strikes will continue, day after day. These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities," he wrote.

Critics question the legality of the strikes. Supporters call them a strong message to gangs moving drugs toward American shores.

The Venezuelan government condemned the action. Lawmakers in Washington are asking for more details about who authorized it and what intelligence backed it up.

Judge Orders Military Schools to Restore Banned Books

Banned books display at the Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library in the Bronx

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) to put hundreds of banned books back on the shelves at schools for military families.

Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled on Oct. 20 that the Pentagon’s removal of books dealing with race and gender likely violated students’ First Amendment rights. Her order in E.K. v. Department of Defense Education Activity sides with six military families whose children attend DoDEA schools in Quantico, Virginia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Italy and Japan. DoDEA serves about 67,000 students in 161 schools worldwide.

The suit stems from an April 12, 2025, complaint in which 12 students from six military families attending five DoDEA schools brought claims against the DoDEA, DoDEA director Beth Schiavano-Narvaez, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, alleging that "through its censorship, DoDEA is prohibiting its educators from meeting plaintiffs’ expectations." Students' grade levels ranged from pre-kindergarten to high school.

Giles’ order, delivered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and which granted a preliminary injunction, requires DoDEA to restore the removed books within 30 days and publish the full list of affected titles. She cited the 1982 Supreme Court decision, Island Trees v. Pico, which found that public schools cannot remove books simply because officials disagree with their content.

The Pentagon told Military.com it has “nothing to provide” in regards to the ruling.

Military.com reached out to DoDEA about how or when the books will be restored or whether the agency plans to appeal. They did not respond by press time.

Groups Celebrate 'Solid First Step'

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia and ACLU of Kentucky, representing the families, called the ruling “a victory for the freedom to read.”

Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said in a statement that students in DoDEA schools “have the same First Amendment rights as all students.”

Shelves of books in the "young adult" section of a public library in Eagle, Idaho, are seen on Feb. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Boone)

The nonprofit organization PEN America, which fights against book banning and encourages free expression in literature, said Giles' ruling is "a solid first step in a long road to restoring and protecting students’ freedom to read in schools run for military families."

“The scale of book removals across schools for military families in response to edicts from the White House is a further escalation of the book banning crisis and comes on the heels of four years of coordinated efforts to suppress and restrict reading material for public school students nationwide," PEN America’s Freedom to Read Program Director Kasey Meehan said in a statement.

Classics Pulled From Shelves

That suit filed in April claimed the department’s school system “whitewashed curricula” and “quarantined” books about race, gender and identity. Families claimed the removals were carried out to comply with executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, which banned “gender ideology” and “divisive concepts” in federal programs.

“DoDEA is scrubbing references to race and gender from its libraries and lessons with no regard to how canonical, award-winning, or age-appropriate the material might be,” the complaint stated.

The parents who compose the plaintiffs argued that that the government has “deprived students of access to works that foster understanding and empathy.”

Court filings indicate that DoDEA officials instructed librarians to remove or relocate books linked to “gender ideology” or “discriminatory equity ideology.” Those titles were sent to restricted staff collections, cutting off student access.

Among the books removed include To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, The Kite Runner, and No Truth Without Ruth, the latter being a children’s book about former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Teachers were told to pause observances such as Black History Month and Pride Month, and to modify lessons that included gender or race discussions.

The ruling could have broad effects on how the federal government oversees classroom materials at its own schools and may shape future fights over book bans nationwide.

Oregon Leaders Push Back After Trump Admin Gets Legal National Guard Victory

Military.com | By Darius Radzius ^[1]

Published October 21, 2025 at 4:32pm ET

Oregon leaders say the fight isn’t over after a federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump likely had the authority to take control of the Oregon National Guard during the social unrest that shook Portland in 2020.

The protests that erupted after the murder of George Floyd began peacefully before clashes with federal officers filled downtown streets with tear gas and flash-bangs. Local leaders accused the White House of inflaming tensions when it moved to federalize the Guard without the governor’s consent.

A federal appeals court on Monday cleared Trump ^[2] to for now send Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, lifting a previous lower court ruling. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Trump likely acted within his authority when he ordered 200 Guard members into federal service for 60 days to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workers and property at the Lindquist Federal Building.

The Department of Justice appealed the previous decision and received a 2-1 ruling in their favor.

A federal district court later blocked the move and barred any troop deployment ^[3] into Oregon. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now reversed part of that ruling, finding that the president likely has the power to federalize a state’s Guard under federal law. Another order still prevents deployment for now.

Law enforcement officers line the road outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility as a bus leaves with passengers on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

City and state officials say the decision may settle a legal question but not the tension left behind.

“The court may have ruled on the legality, but it can’t ignore the impact that deployment had on our community,” a Portland city spokesperson told Military.com. “Portland needed de-escalation, not confrontation.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said the decision undermines state authority and risks turning federal power against local communities.

“This ruling is deeply troubling,” Merkley said in a statement. “It opens the door for any president to seize control of a state’s National Guard for political purposes. Oregonians remember what happened when federal forces flooded Portland’s streets. No community should have to relive that.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the court reaffirmed that Trump was acting lawfully to protect federal facilities.

“As we have always maintained, President Trump is exercising his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel following violent riots that local leaders have refused to address," Jackson said. "This ruling reaffirms that the lower court’s ruling was unlawful and incorrect.”

A Department of Homeland Security official added that the ruling validates the work of federal officers who protected courthouses and government property, saying DHS remains committed to safeguarding federal employees and facilities wherever threats arise.

The ruling could set the stage for a Supreme Court challenge over who controls a state’s Guard in times of unrest. Oregon officials have not said whether they will appeal.

Sidebar

Magazine menu

Trump Backs Off Sending National Guard To San Francisco

‘We’ll Be Watching’

Advocates Still on Alert

Video Shows U.S. Strike on Boat Carrying Gang Members

Judge Orders Military Schools to Restore Banned Books

Groups Celebrate 'Solid First Step'

Classics Pulled From Shelves

Oregon Leaders Push Back After Trump Admin Gets Legal National Guard Victory

More Articles …

‘We’ll Be Watching’

Advocates Still on Alert

Groups Celebrate 'Solid First Step'

Classics Pulled From Shelves

More Articles …

HUNGRY FOR TRUTH? FEED THE NEED.