(Updated with more details) Reeling from widespread harsh ICE raids and responding protests and resistance over the past 24 hours, Los Angeles has become a powder keg with Donald Trump deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops over the objection of Governor Gavin Newsom and other SoCal leaders
As rock-throwing and bellowing Angelenos sought to stop undocumented individuals being targeted by masked and heavily armored federal agents from being dragged away from a Home Depot in Paramount, Calif. and LA’s Westlake neighborhood today, Trump took to social media to announce a de facto takeover of the City of Angels. “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” he said (caps’ Trump).
(L-R): Gavin Newsom, LAPD marches on protesters June 6, Donald Trump
Getty Images
Declaring “to the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States” in a memorandum today, Trump says the federalized troops’ “duration of duty shall be for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense.”
No other details have been released of how the troops will be deployed, where they will be deployed, if there will be a curfew and if local law enforcement will be working with them – though the LAPD referred to the unrest Trump was reacting to as “peaceful,” in a statement put out Saturday night. Raising the stakes even more, and seeming to disregard federal law, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth proclaimed that “if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”
There is also no indication that local law enforcement felt they needed big time backup or, even with a burning car in the streets, had lost control, which is the usual standard for bringing in the National Guard.
What we do know is that with LA supposedly under such great threat that thousands of troops have to hit the streets, Trump is sitting ringside right now at the UFC 13 show in Newark, New Jersey.
(L-R) UFC CEO Dana White & Donald Trump attend UFC 316 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 7, 2025. (Photo by FRANK FRANKLIN II/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Along with UFC boss and Trump buddy Dana White, POTUS is socializing with would-be Paramount owner David Ellison, ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, interim New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, plus family members Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Eric Trump. Right by Trump’s side at the last UFC pile-on POTUS attended, Elon Musk was nowhere to be seen Saturday. Not surprising as the ex-DOGE leader and Trump had a very, very public and scorching falling-out last week with flames thrown from both sides.
Quickly backed up by local and regional California politicians amid the situation in LA, Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed and condemned Trump’s near unprecedented troop action.
“That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions,” the Democrat and Trump foil said of the federal “takeover” of the state by the National Guard, something he expressly did not want. “LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need. The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”
In a post just minutes before, Newsom said the not-so-quiet thing out loud in a country that has been whiplashed through one Constitutional crisis after another since Trump returned to office with authoritarian measures. “The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate,” the Governor said. “That is not the way any civilized country behaves.”
With more protests anticipated, Newsom has put the California Highway Patrol on the scene to make sure safety “is maintained on California’s highways.” Praising his old boss, Senator Alex Padilla added: “The Trump Administration is just sowing more chaos and division in our communities.” LA Mayor Bass took a more customary circumspect approach
Others were much less circumspect.
Veteran showrunner Steven DeKnight amplified predictions of where this could all go.
Raids in LA’s Fashion District and other place in DTLA on Friday, as well as San Diego, saw hastily organized responses as protesters filmed the roundups, lept in front of government vans and even attacked the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse where ICE agents had taken the over 100 people that had been taken into custody. Among those hit to the ground by federal agents and taken off was SEIU labor leader David Huerta, which led to an outpouring of support from unions and guilds all over the state and nation — though Hollywood guilds SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have been silent so far.
With all this going down, it was the gas-shooting LAPD who showed up Friday night to clear the area around the Roybal and get out the trapped ICE staff — or at least tried to. This was despite the insistence of Mayor Bass and the LAPD chief that the police wouldn’t be getting involved.
Looking more and more like a setup, Trump’s move came just a few hours after his Deportation chief Tom Homan went on Fox News to warn LA what was coming if the streets weren’t emptied ASAP. “We’re going to bring National Guard in tonight,” he said, echoing various administration officials and cabinet secretaries. “We’re going to continue doing our job. We’re going to push back on these people, and we’re going to enforce the law.”
Led by White House deputy chief of staff and the man often called Trump’s Prime Minister, Santa Monica-raised Stephen Miller, other Trump loyalists like Vice President JD Vance took to Elon Musk’s X platform to back their boss.
No one in power is openly saying the words “Insurrection Act,” but both Vance and Miller may have overplayed their hands when they started pushing Trump’s legislative agenda. “Time to pass President Trump’s beautiful bill and further secure the border,” said Vance of the increasingly unstable bill that even Musk has attacked as a deficit bloater.
On the other side of the spectrum, Governor Newsom’s pushback remark on Trump bringing 2,000 troops into LA was only the latest escalation of tension he has with the White House. After CNN reported that the Trump administration was preparing to punish the state by withholding federal funds, Newsom issued a statement and video pointing out that California tax dollars subsidize other states. He also threatened to cut off that flow of tax dollars to the federal government.
As Blackhawk helicopters were reportedly offloading a cache of weapons on Saturday evening near a DHS staging facility in Compton, the White House put out another statement justifying its actions. “In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Claiming “lawlessness has been allowed to fester,” Leavitt added: “The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs. These criminals will be arrested and swiftly brought to justice. The Commander-in-Chief will ensure the laws of the United States are executed fully and completely.”
As this was all going down, very little of the explosive events occurring in America’s second-largest city were being covered on the cable newsers. In fact, it was the U.K.’s BBC that was the only outlet to be on the scene live.
As FNC chatted with the CIA Director, and MSNBC stayed on a segment on past ICE actions, CNN initially stuck to its panel programming following the live broadcast of the Tony-nominated Good Night and Good Luck starring George Clooney. It took almost 40 minutes for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned channel to cut to the news out of LA.
Ted Johnson contributed to this report
