Trump authorises troops to Chicago

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump authorised deployment of troops to Chicago after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist there at the weekend, while a judge blocked the Republican leader's attempt to send the military into Portland, another Democratic-run city.

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PROTESTERS holding a banner block 25th Street located near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois.

(AFP)

The escalating crisis across the country pits Trump’s increasingly militarised anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab.

“President Trump has authorised 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, after weeks of the Republican threats to send troops to the Midwestern city over the wishes of local leaders.

“President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities”

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin called the move a “shameful chapter in our nation’s history,’ adding that the “President is not intent on fighting crime. He is intent on spreading fear.”

Chicago and Portland are the latest flashpoints in the Trump administration's roll-out of raids, following the deployment of troops to Los Angeles and Washington.