The White House announced Saturday that President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles in response to ongoing clashes between federal agents and demonstrators protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting undocumented immigrants.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “President Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy 2,000 National Guard members to address the chaos that has been allowed to fester,” directly blaming what she described as California’s “weak” Democratic leadership for the unrest, according to international news agencies.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reinforced the administration’s position, confirming the Pentagon’s readiness to escalate the response. “The Department of Defense is immediately mobilizing the National Guard to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles,” Hegseth posted on social media platform X. “If the violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized. They are on standby.”
In a series of social media statements, Trump criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, accusing them of failing to control the situation. “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!!!” Trump wrote.
A formal White House statement accused “violent mobs” of targeting ICE and federal law enforcement officers conducting deportation operations in Los Angeles. “These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States,” the statement read. It criticized state leadership for failing to protect residents and reaffirmed the administration’s zero-tolerance stance on violence and lawlessness.
Leavitt stated, “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.”
— AP photos
