The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota.
According to Reuters, the army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the northern state escalates, which has become the site of large protests against the government's deportation drive.
The White House told the Post in a statement that it is typical for the Pentagon “to be prepared for any decision the President may or may not make.” The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to use the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces if officials in the state do not stop protesters from targeting immigration officials after a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Confrontations between residents and federal officers have become increasingly tense in Minneapolis, Minnesota's most-populous city, after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, on January 7 as she was driving away after being ordered to exit her car.
