By GENE JOHNSON and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

The deployment of National Guard troops on the streets of Washington faces challenges in two courts on Friday — one in the nation’s capital and another in West Virginia — while across the country a judge in Portland, Oregon, will consider whether to let President Donald Trump deploy troops there.

Law enforcement officers are seen outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Ore., Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

The hearings are the latest developments in a head-spinning array of lawsuits and overlapping rulings prompted by Trump’s push to send the military into Democratic-run cities over fierce resistance from mayors and governors. Deployment remains blocked in the Chicago area, where all sides are waiting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes to allow it.

Here’s what to know about legal efforts to block or deploy the National Guard in various cities.

A challenge to troops in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, set a hearing Friday to consider whether to grant District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb ‘s request for an order that would get more than 2,000 Guard members off the streets of Washington.

In August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in the city — though the U.S. Justice Department itself says violent crime there is at a 30-year low.

National Guard soldiers patrol on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the Secretary of the Army. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist in patrols.

It Is unclear how long the deployments will last, but attorneys from Schwalb’s office said Guard troops are likely to remain in the city through at least next summer.

“Our constitutional democracy will never be the same if these occupations are permitted to stand,” they wrote.

Government lawyers said Congress empowered the president to control the D.C. National Guard’s operation. They argued that Schwalb’s lawsuit is a frivolous “political stunt” threatening to undermine a successful campaign to reduce violent crime in the district.

Republican governors from several states also sent units to D.C. Although the emergency period ended in September, more than 2,200 troops remain. Several states told The Associated Press they would bring their units home by Nov. 30, unless extended.

West Virginia judge considers that state’s deployment

Among the states that sent troops to the nation’s capital was West Virginia. A civic organization called the West Virginia Citizen Action Group says Gov. Patrick Morrisey exceeded his authority by deploying 300 to 400 National Guard members to support Trump’s efforts there.

Related Articles

New York Attorney General Letitia James will make first court appearance in mortgage fraud case

Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads

Virginia Democrats will try to reshape US House districts in counter to Trump’s redistricting push

What lawmakers are saying about Trump’s demolition of the East Wing

Watch those texts! Smartphones emerging as a new way for public figures to get into hot water

Under state law, the group argues, the governor may deploy the National Guard out of state only for certain purposes, such as responding to a natural disaster or another state’s emergency request.

“The Governor cannot transform our citizen-soldiers into a roving police force available at the whim of federal officials who bypass proper legal channels,” the group’s attorneys, with the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, wrote in a court document.

Morrisey has said West Virginia “is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” and his office has said the deployment was authorized under federal law. The state attorney general’s office has asked Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Richard D. Lindsay to reject the case, saying the group has not been harmed and lacks standing to challenge the governor’s decision.

Troops in Oregon remain in limbo

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee in Portland, is in a particularly tricky legal spot.

She issued two temporary restraining orders earlier this month — one prohibiting the president from calling up Oregon troops so he could send them to Portland, and another blocking him from sending any Guard members to Oregon at all after he tried to evade the first order by deploying California troops instead.

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Monday put her first ruling on hold, allowing Trump to take command of the 200 Oregon National Guard troops. Now she has to decide whether to dissolve her second order as well — clearing the way for the deployment.

The Justice Department has insisted she is required to immediately dissolve the second order, because its reasoning was the same as that rejected by the appeals panel. Attorneys for the state disagree, saying she must wait to see if the 9th Circuit will reconsider the panel’s ruling.

A hearing set for Friday was expected to focus on those arguments.

In Chicago, awaiting word from the Supreme Court

U.S. District Judge April Perry on Wednesday blocked the deployment of Guard troops to the Chicago area until the case has been decided either in her court or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. Perry had already blocked the deployment for two weeks through a temporary restraining order.

Attorneys representing the federal government said they would agree to extend the order but emphasized that they would continue pressing for an emergency order from the Supreme Court that would allow for the deployment.

Lawyers representing Chicago and Illinois have asked the Supreme Court to continue to block the deployment, calling it a “dramatic step.”

Democrats sue to stop Guard deployment in Memphis

In Tennessee, Democratic elected officials sued last Friday to stop the ongoing Guard deployment in Memphis. They said Republican Gov. Bill Lee, acting on a request from Trump, violated the state constitution, which says the Guard can be called up during “rebellion or invasion” — but only with state lawmakers’ blessing.

Since their arrival on Oct. 10, troops have been patrolling downtown Memphis, including near the iconic Pyramid, wearing camouflage uniforms and protective vests that say “military police,” with guns in holsters. Guard members have no arrest power, officials have said.

Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Adrian Sainz in Memphis and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed.

At the beginning of October, the MLS Players Assocaition released its list of players headed toward free agency at the end of this season.

Minnesota United stalwarts Wil Trapp and Michael Boxall were among those grouped with pending contract options for 2026. Not exactly.

Both veteran had clauses in their contracts based on the number of games played this season and both “options” were triggered in late summer, setting up their returns to the Loons for next season. Trapp shared this news with the Pioneer Press this week, grateful he doesn’t have to go into the offseason with uncertainty.

“That’s nice to just know where you’ll be,” Trapp said. “But again, for us as the veteran players and the guys that have been the league longer, it’s just wanting to win trophies. You just want to find ways to start to cement those legacies of bringing something special to the club.”

Trapp, 32, and Boxall, 37, played vital roles for a Loons team that finished fourth in the Western Conference and have home-field advantage in the MLS Cup Playoffs first round series. Game 1 against the Seattle Sounders is set for 8 p.m. Monday at Allianz Field.

Trapp and Bongi Hlongwane were the only two MNUFC players to take the field in all 34 games this season. Trapp led MNUFC in minutes played (2,717), adding two goals and two assists. Boxall was third in playing time (2,651 minutes) across his 31 matches, chipping in a goal and assist.

Both players have been important to a stout United defense that allowed the third-fewest goals in MLS this season. The Loons gave up 39 goals in 34 games, behind only Vancouver (38) and MLS Supporters Shied winner Philadelphia (35).

Boxall served as the Loons’ captain 28 times this season, while Trapp wore the armband five times and goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, a pending free agent, put it on once.

The MLSPA said Boxall’s guaranteed compensation was $827,500, while Trapp’s was $552,500.

Young prospect

The Pioneer Press confirmed Thursday that MNUFC is targeting 17-year-old Australian midfielder Haine Eames, who has been playing for Central Coast Mariners in A-League and on the Socceroos Under-17 national team. Last week, Eames was named to The Guardian’s project: “60 of the best young talents in world football.”

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Friday’s inflation report is likely to show that consumer prices worsened in September for the second straight month as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have lifted the cost of some groceries and other goods.

Related Articles

Former chamber exec, Mounds View school board member Jonathan Weinhagen indicted

Intel posts profit even as it struggles to regain market share

Target to eliminate about 1,800 corporate jobs, or about 8%

People pardoned by Trump want banks to forgive their past, too

Investigators drop $10M fine against Wells Fargo exec of Lake Elmo

The report on the consumer price index is being issued more than a week late because of the government shutdown, now in its fourth week. The Trump administration recalled some Labor Department employees to produce the figures because they are used to set the annual cost-of-living adjustment for roughly 70 million Social Security recipients.

Friday’s inflation report will be the first comprehensive economic data to be released in more than three weeks and will attract intense interest from Wall Street and officials at the Federal Reserve. Fed officials are cutting their short-term interest rate to buoy the economy and hiring, but they are taking some risk doing so because inflation is still above their 2% target.

The issues of affordability and the cost of necessities are gaining in political importance. Concerns over the costs of rent and groceries have played a key role in the mayoral race in New York City. And Trump, who has acknowledged that the spike in grocery prices under President Joe Biden helped him win the 2024 election, has been considering importing Argentine beef to reduce record-high U.S. beef prices, angering U.S. cattle ranchers.

The cost of ground beef has jumped to $6.32 a pound, a record, in part because of tariffs on imports from countries such as Brazil, which faces a 50% duty. Years of drought that have reduced cattle herds have also raised prices.

Friday’s report is forecast to show that inflation rose 3.1% in September from a year earlier, according to a survey of economists by data provider FactSet. That would be up from 2.9% in August and the highest in 18 months. On a monthly basis, inflation is projected to be 0.4% in September, the same as in August.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation in September was likely 3.1% for the third straight month. On a monthly basis, core prices likely rose 0.3%, economists project, also for the third straight month.

Such figures are unlikely to deter the Fed from cutting its key rate by another quarter-point when it meets next week, to about 3.9%. It would be the second cut this year and is driven by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s concerns that hiring is weakening and poses a threat to the economy.

Even as inflation has fallen sharply from its peak of 9.1% more than three years ago, it remains a major concern for consumers. About half of all Americans say the cost of groceries is a “major” source of stress, according to an August poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

And the Conference Board, a business research group, finds that consumers are still referencing prices and inflation in responses to its monthly survey on consumer confidence.

Still, inflation has not risen as much as many economists feared when Trump first announced a sweeping set of tariffs. Many importers built up inventories of goods before the duties took effect, while Trump reduced many import taxes, including as part of trade deals with China, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

And many economists, as well as some Fed officials, expect that the tariffs will create a one-time lift to prices that will fade by early next year. At the same time, inflation excluding the tariffs is cooling, they argue: Rental price increases, for example, are declining on average nationwide.

Yet Trump is imposing tariffs in an ongoing fashion that could raise prices in a more sustained fashion.

For example, the Trump administration is investigating whether to slap 100% tariffs on imports from Nicaragua over alleged human rights violations. The prospect of such steep duties is a major headache for Dan Rattigan, the co-founder of premium chocolate maker French Broad, based in Asheville, N.C.

“We’ve been shouldering some significant additional costs,” Rattigan said. The United States barely produces any cocoa, so his company imports it from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Uganda. The imports from Nicaragua were duty-free because the country had a trade agreement with the United States, but now faces an 18% import tax.

Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years because of poor weather and blights in West Africa, which produces more than 70% of the world’s cocoa. The tariffs are an additional hit on top of that. Rattigan is also paying more for almonds, hazelnuts, and chocolate-making equipment from Italy, which has also been hit with tariffs.

French Broad raised its prices slightly earlier this year and doesn’t have any plans to do so again. But after the winter holidays, “all bets are off … in what is a very unpredictable business climate,” Rattigan said.

By BEN FINELY and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to make her first court appearance in a mortgage fraud case on Friday, the third adversary of President Donald Trump to face a judge on federal charges in recent weeks.

Related Articles

Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads

Virginia Democrats will try to reshape US House districts in counter to Trump’s redistricting push

What lawmakers are saying about Trump’s demolition of the East Wing

Watch those texts! Smartphones emerging as a new way for public figures to get into hot water

Deadly semitrailer crash in California renews federal criticism of immigrant truck drivers

James was indicted earlier this month on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a 2020 home purchase in Norfolk, Virginia. The charges came shortly after the official who had been overseeing the investigation was pushed out by the Trump administration and the Republican president publicly called on the Justice Department to take action against James and other political foes.

James, a Democrat who has sued Trump and his administration dozens of times, has denied wrongdoing and decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

The indictment stems from James’ purchase of a modest house in Norfolk, where she has family. During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise.

Rather than using the home as a second residence, the indictment alleges, James rented it out to a family of three. According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.

James drew Trump’s ire when she won a staggering judgment against the president and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

James’ indictment followed the resignation of Erik Siebert as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he resisted Trump administration pressure to bring charges. Siebert was replaced with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who had never previously served as a federal prosecutor and presented James’ case to the grand jury herself.

On Thursday, lawyers for James asked for an order prohibiting prosecutors from disclosing to the news media information about the investigation, or materials from the case, outside of court.

The motion followed the revelation from earlier this week that Halligan contacted via an encrypted text messaging platform a reporter from Lawfare, a media organization that covers legal and national security issues, to discuss the James prosecution and complain about coverage of it. The reporter published the exchange that she and Halligan had.

“The exchange was a stunning disclosure of internal government information,” lawyers for James wrote.

They added: “It has been reported that Ms. Halligan has no prosecutorial experience whatsoever. But all federal prosecutors are required to know and follow the rules governing their conduct from their first day on the job, and so any lack of experience cannot excuse their violation.”

The motion also asks that the government be required to preserve all communications with representatives of the media as well as to prevent the deletion of any records or communications related to the investigation and the prosecution of the case.

Separately on Thursday, defense lawyers said they intended to challenge Halligan’s appointment, a step also taken this week by attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey in a different case filed by Halligan. Comey has been charged with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute him, and he has pleaded not guilty.

A third Trump adversary, former national security adviser John Bolton, pleaded not guilty last week to charges against him of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.

The Justice Department has also been investigating mortgage fraud allegations against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, whom Trump has called to be prosecuted over allegations related to a property in Maryland. In a separate mortgage investigation, authorities have been probing allegations against Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, who is challenging a Trump administration effort to remove her from her job. Schiff and Cook have denied wrongdoing.

Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.