Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Minnesota keeps control of its National Guard, and 1,500 federal soldiers put on alert for the state are stood down
After the January 7, 2026 killing of Renee Good during immigration-enforcement protests, Gov. Tim Walz mobilized the Guard himself, and the Pentagon readied active-duty troops in case Trump invoked the Insurrection Act.
What happened
About January 18, 2026, the Pentagon placed roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from two 11th Airborne Division battalions in Alaska on prepare-to-deploy orders in case Trump invoked the Insurrection Act. He had threatened it days earlier and then walked it back. About 200 Texas Guard troops were also told to prepare.
Gov. Tim Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard himself, in a support role, keeping it under state control. The protests followed the January 7 killing of Renee Good. In Los Angeles in June 2025, by contrast, the president had federalized California’s Guard over the governor’s objection.
Over the weekend of January 31 to February 1, Northern Command stood the soldiers down; no mission was ever defined and none deployed. The 11th Airborne’s commander declined to testify to Alaska lawmakers about it.
Who benefited
The White House kept the Insurrection Act visibly on the table during the protests without having to use it. DHS operations continued under the implied threat of military backup. The alert itself functioned as pressure on the governor.
Who wanted something
Administration officials who had deployed federalized troops to Los Angeles and other cities in 2025 were prepared to do so again, and the order came from the Defense Department at the White House’s direction. For them, readiness was the point.
Who lost out
Minnesotans faced the prospect of active-duty soldiers in their cities. The governor had to pre-empt federalization by calling out the Guard himself. The episode also left open whether a president can send troops over a state’s refusal.
Why it matters
The state kept its Guard and no federal troops arrived. But 1,500 soldiers on alert for an American state during protests shows how routine the threat of domestic deployment had become, and how much depended on a governor acting first.
Sources Associated Press (via ABC News)ABC News (via KRVN)KUAC / New York TimesAlaska's News SourceCNN