Trump sends Marines to LA, backs Newsom arrest

What happened

President Donald Trump's administration said Monday it was sending 700 Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops to Los Angeles, escalating the federal response to protests over ICE raids in the area. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who opposes the deployments alongside local officials, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to overturn Trump's National Guard activation, and the governor said he would also sue over the Marines deployment, calling both actions inflammatory abuses of power.

Demonstrators clashed with state and local police in pockets of Los Angeles again Monday as the protests spread to cities across the U.S.

Who said what

Monday's L.A. protests were, "for the most part, calmer than Sunday's melees, which left a wake of foam bullets around the city's center and many protesters injured from the munitions," the Los Angeles Times said. But the battle of words between Trump and Newsom escalated.

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Arresting the governor "would be a great thing," Trump told reporters, and "I would do it if I were Tom" Homan, the White House border czar. Newsom said Trump was taking an "unmistakable step toward authoritarianism" and his Marines deployment was "un-American." Marines are "heroes," Newsom said on X, not "political pawns" to be "illegally" deployed on American streets to "fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president" and give him "a talking point at his parade this weekend."

Newsom said he was calling in about 800 additional police from nearby counties and the California Highway Patrol to "pick up the pieces" of Trump's "chaos." L.A. Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said having "federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city."

What next?

The Pentagon is "scrambling" 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," The Associated Press said. Because Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act, the 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops in LA aren't allowed to arrest people or engage in other law enforcement.