June 10, 2025
Trump defended his choice to send in more National Guard troops, referencing the L.A. wildfires.
Donald Trump has asserted that Los Angeles would be “burning to the ground” if he had not sent National Guard troops to suppress the protests against the ICE raids.
The president shared his thoughts on his controversial decision to send the military to quell the demonstration, referencing the L.A. wildfires that destroyed parts of the city earlier this year.
“If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. do to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” Trump said on Truth Social, according to CNN.
In a move condemned by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Trump initially deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles. He also activated 700 Marines to head to the city to further control the protest zones. He has since authorized 2,000 more National Guard troops to be deployed to the state.
Newsom formally requested that Trump remove the troops from the area, preferring to let state law enforcement handle the situation.
I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command.
We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while… pic.twitter.com/tOtA5dcfxc
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 8, 2025
“I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to my command,” Newsome wrote. “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed. Rescind the order. Return control to California.”
The news outlet also confirmed that protestors are still clashing with police. However, much of the protest has been concentrated downtown since it started over the weekend. The outer parts of the city have been relatively unaffected.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also condemned Trump’s response.
“A test case for what happens when the federal government moves in and takes the authority away from the state or away from local government,” said Bass during a press conference. “I don’t think our city should be used for an experiment.”
Trump had warned of his plans to scale up deportation efforts. His plans resulted in ICE detaining undocumented individuals following immigration hearings, leading to the protests against the raids.
“If immigration raids had not happened here, we would not have the disorder that we did last night,” Bass told CNN’s The Situation Room, referring to the rise in violence during the protests.
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