The Latest: Trump defends National Guard deployment as protests spread to other cities
President Donald Trump is defending his decision to send Another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines to Los Angeles, escalating a military presence local officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom don't want and the police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.
Additional protests against immigration raids are expected to continue in other cities Tuesday.
Here's the latest:
Hegseth refuses to provide lawmakers details on costs of sending Marines to Los Angeles
In a back an forth with the defense appropriations subcommittee's top Democrat, Hegseth refused to answer basic questions on the cost of deploying Marines to Los Angeles, instead falling back on political talking points.
In a series of questions on the news that Marines would be sent to Los Angeles, House Appropriations defense subcommittee ranking member Rep. Betty McCollum told Hegseth 'this is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in,' she said. 'There's no need for the Marines to be deployed.'
McCollum asked what the cost of the deployment would be. Hegseth deflected on the costs, attacked the decisions of the previous Biden administration instead and talked about illegal immigration.
'Could the Secretary please address the budget' McCollum asked him.
Hegseth again refused to acknowledge McCollum's question and attacked the politics of the past administration again. McCollum took back her time and Hegseth was instructed by the committee chairman to provide the costs in writing instead.
California Democrats accuse Trump of inciting unrest
Democratic members of California's congressional delegation are accusing President Donald Trump of creating a 'manufactured crisis' in Los Angeles with his orders to send in thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines.
'It's a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration,' said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who organized a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta said that Trump's decision to send in the military was designed to 'give him the image and give him the fight and give him the pictures that he wants.'
Panetta said the delegation would stand with peaceful protesters, but those who are not peaceful are going to pay the consequences.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi contrasted Trump's actions now with his handling of the Jan. 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol when law enforcement officers were being beaten.
'We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,' Pelosi said.
Trump links protests in Los Angeles to home rebuilding after wildfires
Trump said his decision to 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles spared the city from burning to the ground like thousands of homes after wildfires this year.
He wrote on his social media site that people want to rebuild, and that the federal permitting process is 'virtually complete on these houses.'
Trump claimed that 'the easy and simple City and State Permits are disastrously bungled up and WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE!' and blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
'People want to rebuild their houses. Call your incompetent Governor and Mayor, the Federal permitting is DONE!!!' he wrote.
Pentagon draws up rules on possible use of force by Marines
The Pentagon was scrambling Monday to establish rules to guide U.S. Marines who could be faced with the rare and difficult prospect of using force against citizens on American soil, now that the Trump administration is deploying active duty troops to the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles.
The forces have been trained in deescalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, Northern Command said.
But the use of the active duty forces still raises difficult questions.
The Marines are highly trained in combat and crisis response. But that is starkly different from the role they will face now: They could potentially be hit by protesters carrying gas canisters and have to quickly decide how to respond or face decisions about protecting an immigration enforcement agent from crowds.
According to a U.S. official, troops will be armed with their normal service weapons but will not be carrying tear gas. They also will have protective equipment such as helmets, shields and gas masks.
▶ Read more about the Pentagon's guidelines for the Marines
Los Angeles' image is scuffed since ICE raids and protests, with World Cup and Olympics on horizon
This isn't the image Los Angeles wanted projected around the globe.
Clouds of tear gas wafting over a throng of protesters on a blocked freeway. Federal immigration agents in tactical garb raiding businesses in search of immigrants without legal status. A messy war of words between Trump and Newsom. Photos captured several Waymo robotaxis set on fire and graffiti scrawled on a federal detention center building, while videos recorded the sounds of rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades hitting crowds.
In a city still reeling from January's deadly wildfires — and with the World Cup soccer championships and the 2028 Olympics on the horizon — Mayor Karen Bass has been urging residents to come together to revitalize LA's image by sprucing up streets, planting trees and painting murals so LA shows its best face to nations near and far.
'It's about pride,' she's said. 'This is the city of dreams.'
▶ Read more about the impact of the protests
Guard deployment is a nearly unprecedented escalation
The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts.
Protesters clasp hands in front of a line of California National Guard, Monday, June 9, 2025, at a Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo Jae Hong)
The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
In a directive Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.'
Early protests remained peaceful
On Monday, thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta's arrest Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration's crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state's janitors, security officers and other workers.
Early protests had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huerta's release.
Protesters linked hands in front of a line of police officers outside the downtown federal detention center where Huerta was being held. Religious leaders joined the protesters, working with organizers at times to de-escalate moments of tension.
There was a heavy law enforcement presence in the few square blocks, while most in the immense city of some 4 million people went about their normal business on peaceful streets.
Trump sends Marines and more National Guard members to Los Angeles
Another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines are headed to Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump, escalating a military presence local officials and Newsom don't want and the police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.
An initial 2,000 Guard troops ordered by Trump started arriving Sunday, which saw the most violence during three days of protests.
Monday's demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don't need the help.
Newsom called the deployments reckless and 'disrespectful to our troops' in a post on the social platform X.
▶ Read more about the deployment of more National Guard members
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
40 minutes ago
- Politico
Israel presses ahead with strikes as Trump's 2-week deadline looms
Israeli officials insisted Friday that they will keep up their bombing campaign against Iran, even as President Donald Trump has given Tehran a two-week deadline to come to some sort of diplomatic deal that reins in its nuclear program. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, laid out his country's case at the U.N. Security Council, facing off Friday with Iranian representatives who urged the world to stop the Israeli strikes. 'Israel will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe,' Danon declared. The Israeli assertions highlight how Trump's statement that he'll decide 'in the next two weeks' whether to strike Iranian nuclear sites provides an opportunity to Israel as much as it puts pressure on Iran. For Iran, it's two weeks to come to some sort of diplomatic deal with the U.S. that constrains its nuclear, and possibly other, programs. For Israel, it's a focused timeframe to do as much damage as it can to Iran's nuclear and broader military infrastructure before the U.S. may pressure it to accept a diplomatic solution. The more damage Israel does, the more it could weaken an enemy and improve the odds that Iran will capitulate to U.S. demands in the diplomatic process. The strikes themselves couldthreaten the survival of Iran's Islamist regime. Trump told reporters on Friday that he wasn't about to push Israel to halt its assault in Iran while he weighs what the U.S. should do. 'It's very hard to make that request right now,' Trump said. 'If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens.' A senior administration official, granted anonymity to speak about the president's thinking, said 'everything is still on the table.' 'This is about giving this a little time and seeing if things look any different in a couple weeks,' the official said. Trump's 'two-week' window was delivered Thursday by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said, quoting Trump, that his delay in determining whether to join Israel's attack on Iran was 'based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' Trump often says he'll make decisions in two weeks, only to extend his deadline again or never follow through. Still, Israel and Iran appear to believe the next two weeks will be a crucial phase. Iranian officials showed up for nuclear talks with European officials on Friday in Geneva; Israel pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against Iran, which is responding with missiles. Iranian officials met Friday with European envoys in Geneva in an attempt to revitalize the diplomatic process. The talks ended on an ambiguous note. Iranian officials have said their participation in future talks would hinge on Israel stopping its attacks. Some European representatives said talks should continue regardless, even as they urged both sides to avoid escalation. 'We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for,' French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. For Israel, the most critical, but perhaps toughest, official objective is eliminating Iran's nuclear facility at Fordo. That facility is buried deep underground, and Israel has been hoping Trump will enter the fight and use special, massive U.S. bombs to destroy it. There are concerns, however, including among Republicans, that Iran could retaliate against U.S. assets if America enters the conflict on any level, dragging America into another Middle Eastern war. Trump campaigned on avoiding such wars. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that Israel has means to destroy Fordo on its own. It's not clear what those methods could involve, but Israel has significant intelligence operations inside Iran and it has often surprised even Washington with its capabilities. Either way, current and former Israeli officials said they saw no reason for Israel to back off its strikes now, despite calls for deescalation from some world capitals. The more Israel degrades Iran's capabilities, the less able Tehran will be to mount retaliatory attacks on Israel or the United States, should the latter choose to enter the war. From the beginning, 'the Israeli planning was based on the assumption that we have to do it alone,' said a former Israeli diplomat familiar with the situation. The person, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss highly sensitive issues. It's unclear whether there is any deal with Iran that Israel would deem strong enough. There is tremendous distrust of Iran's Islamist regime within Israel's security establishment, leading to a sense that Iran would cheat on any deal. Another unsettled question is whether a deal with Iran will cover only its nuclear program or also curb its ballistic missile initiative and support for proxy militias in the region. Some analysts have argued that Netanyahu decided to begin attacking Iran last week because he was worried earlier nuclear talks between Iran and the Trump administration would yield too weak a deal. If new efforts at diplomacy yield fruit, Trump could pressure Netanyahu to accept whatever deal emerges, potentially even by threatening to withhold weapons and other equipment Israel needs to defend itself against Iran. The war is costly for Israel, which has been fighting on multiple fronts — in particular against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip — since October 2023. As one Israeli official said, Iranian missile attacks feel like 'Russian roulette' to Israeli citizens.
Associated Press
40 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump says Gabbard was 'wrong' about Iran and Israeli strikes could be 'very hard to stop'
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was 'wrong' when she previously said that the U.S. believed Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon, and he suggested that it would be 'very hard to stop' Israel's strikes on Iran in order to negotiate a possible ceasefire. Trump has recently taken a more aggressive public stance toward Tehran as he's sought more time to weigh whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility. Buried under a mountain, the facility is believed to be out of the reach of all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. After landing in New Jersey for an evening fundraiser for his super political action committee, Trump was asked about Gabbard's comments to Congress in March that U.S. spy agencies believed that Iran wasn't working on nuclear warheads. The president responded, 'Well then, my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?' Informed that it had been Gabbard, Trump said, 'She's wrong.' In a subsequent post on X, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context 'as a way to manufacture division.' 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,' she wrote. 'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.' Still, disavowing Gabbard's previous assessment came a day after the White House said Trump would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military would get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran. It said seeking additional time was 'based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' But on Friday, Trump himself seemed to cast doubts on the possibility of talks leading to a pause in fighting between Israel and Iran. He said that, while he might support a ceasefire, Israel's strikes on Iran could be 'very hard to stop.' Asked about Iran suggesting that, if the U.S. was serious about furthering negotiations, it could call on Israel to stop its strikes, Trump responded, 'I think it's very hard to make that request right now.' 'If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing,' Trump said. 'But we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens.' The president later added, 'It's very hard to stop when you look at it.' 'Israel's doing well in terms of war. And, I think, you would say that Iran is doing less well. It's a little bit hard to get somebody to stop,' Trump said. Trump campaigned on decrying 'endless wars' and has vowed to be an international peacemaker. That's led some, even among conservatives, to point to Trump's past criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq beginning in 2003 as being at odds with his more aggressive stance toward Iran now. Trump suggested the two situations were very different, though. 'There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, it was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,' Trump said of his past criticism of the administration of President George W. Bush. He added of Iran's current nuclear program, 'It looked like I'm right about the material that they've gathered already. It's a tremendous amount of material.' Trump also cast doubts on Iran's developing nuclear capabilities for civilian pursuits, like power generation. 'You're sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world,' he said. 'It's a little bit hard to see why you'd need that.' ____
The Hill
40 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump: ‘Maybe I'll have to change my mind' about firing Powell
President Trump on Friday floated the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as part of his latest round of intense criticism of the leader of the central bank over its decision not to lower interest rates. Trump, in a lengthy post on Truth Social, railed against Powell, labeling him a 'numbskull,' 'a dumb guy,' 'and an obvious Trump Hater.' Trump appointed Powell to the post in 2017. 'I fully understand that my strong criticism of him makes it more difficult for him to do what he should be doing, lowering Rates, but I've tried it all different ways,' Trump posted. 'I've been nice, I've been neutral, and I've been nasty, and nice and neutral didn't work!' The post included a graphic showing how the United States' central bank rate compared to other nations. 'I don't know why the Board doesn't override this Total and Complete Moron!' Trump added 'Maybe, just maybe, I'll have to change my mind about firing him? But regardless, his Term ends shortly!' Powell's term ends in 2026. He said last November he would not step down if Trump asked, and that it is 'not permitted under the law' for the president to fire or demote him or any of the other Fed governors with leadership positions. Trump in April said he had no intention of firing Powell, though he has in recent days ratcheted up his criticism amid frustration over the Fed's handling of interest rates. Fed officials kicked off the year expecting to continue cutting interest rates as inflation drifted back toward its ideal annual level of 2 percent. But the bank has held off through the first half of 2025 amid the uncertainty driven by Trump's tariff plans. Powell reiterated his call for patience Wednesday, after the Fed kept rates steady once again.
