LOS ANGELES (BN24) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy an additional 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, calling the move “reckless” and accusing the administration of abusing federal authority as immigration protests persist in the region.
The new deployment, which adds to an earlier wave of 2,000 National Guard troops, comes alongside the mobilization of approximately 700 U.S. Marines from Twentynine Palms to Camp Pendleton, about 90 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, defense officials said. The Marines, from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, were activated by U.S. Northern Command in response to escalating demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement.
“I was just informed Trump is deploying another 2,000 Guard troops to L.A.,” Newsom wrote Saturday on X. “The first 2,000? Given no food or water. Only approx. 300 are deployed — the rest are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders. This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego.”
Newsom, a vocal opponent of Trump’s immigration policies, argued the latest troop movements were unnecessary and unconstitutional, and he warned against using active-duty military personnel to quell domestic protests. “This is un-American,” he posted, denouncing what he called “a deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Saturday filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging Trump’s troop deployments to Los Angeles constitute an unlawful use of military force and represent a federal overreach. The suit challenges the president’s authority to unilaterally send military personnel to a state without proper consultation or justification.
According to two senior Defense Department officials, the mobilized Marines are stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County to position them closer to the Los Angeles area, where they may be called upon to assist in protecting federal property and personnel. Under federal law, they are prohibited from making arrests or engaging in direct law enforcement actions, though they may support local and federal agencies.
“U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy,” Newsom said. “They are heroes. But they shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen.”
The Marines’ movement was ordered following several days of large and occasionally tense protests across Los Angeles sparked by federal immigration crackdowns. Defense sources confirmed the Marines were placed on alert by U.S. Northern Command over the weekend and are now part of the broader federal response authorized by Trump’s executive order.
The deployment has reignited debates over the use of military force within U.S. borders and intensified the ongoing political clash between the Trump administration and California leadership over immigration enforcement and states’ rights.
