In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

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This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley.

To put military troops in American cities is a threat to our democracy.

If you think about the speech that the president gave to the hundreds of generals that were gathered a week or so ago to talk about training our troops in the cities of America, we're not at war with ourselves here.

There is not an insurrection or a rebellion, not only in Portland or Chicago or other places.

Look, there are challenges.

There's lawful demonstrations. Local law enforcement is handling the situation. And I think this is an overreaction

to the situation. And it's just not true. Fact should matter. That was Oregon Governor Tina Kotech on NPR,

reacting to President Donald Trump's order to deploy National Guard troops into several U.S. cities. Her words capture the anxiety and disbelief,

reverberating through many city halls and state houses and even inside the Pentagon.

In Portland, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the guards' arrival.

In Chicago, city and state leaders are suing to stop similar deployments. But that resistance

is falling largely along partisan lines. While Democratic governors oppose the deployments,

some Republican governors are welcoming them. Louisiana governor,

Jeff Laundrie, requested up to 1,000 troops for New Orleans in Shreveport in Baton Rouge,

citing high crime rates. And at least six Republican-led states, including West Virginia,

South Carolina, and Ohio, have sent hundreds of guard troops to Washington, D.C.

at Trump's request.

But the deployment orders are just one part of a larger shift happening inside of the military itself.

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