California sues Trump administration over deployment of National Guard troops
The US state of California says it filed a lawsuit on Monday against President Donald Trump's administration for ordering the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles, calling it illegal.
The lawsuit follows Trump's order to send the troops in a bid to quell protests that started on Friday over crackdowns on immigrants.
The state said in a statement that the administration federalized the California National Guard without authorization from the governor and against the wishes of local law enforcement.
California officials called the move "an inflammatory escalation" and said it exceeds the federal government's legal authority. The state said it will ask the court to rule Trump's order unlawful.
It also implied that federalizing the troops means losing National Guard members needed to protect California residents in emergencies.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in the statement, "Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach." He said the move is endangering the principle of democracy and called it a step toward authoritarianism.
The state's Attorney General Rob Bonta said it is clear that there is no invasion or rebellion. He said, "The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends."
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Japan Today
27 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Trump says he will 'liberate' Los Angeles in speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the Army
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and MICHELLE L. PRICE President Donald Trump called protesters in Los Angeles 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' in a speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday as he defended deploying the military on demonstrators opposed to his immigration enforcement raids and as he vowed to 'liberate' the West Coast city. Trump, in his most aggressive language yet regarding the protests, used a speech ostensibly supposed to be used to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army to denounce the protesters while repeating his false statements about the 2020 election being rigged and attacking the previous commander-in-chief, former President Joe Biden. The Republican president, who sees the military as a critical tool for domestic goals, has used the recent protests in Los Angeles as an opportunity to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines over the objections of California's Democratic governor. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend in Los Angeles, but the demonstrations in the city of 4 million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown. 'We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That's what they are," Trump said Tuesday. Trump's heated rhetoric came as he's left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, one of the most extreme emergency powers available to the president. It authorizes him to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. Trump received plenty of cheers from the crowd, which laughed at the president's jokes and delighted in his dancing to his campaign anthem of ' YMCA.' However, some in the audience were uneasy with parts of his remarks. Robin Boothe, who voted for Trump and works on the base as an audiology assistant, said the speech was 'classic Trump.' However, she also found it to be too partisan, especially his comments on Los Angeles. 'I thought that was better left for a press conference than what we were celebrating today,' the 50-year-old said. The president called Los Angeles 'a trash heap' with 'entire neighborhoods under control' of criminals and said the federal government would 'use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order.' 'We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again," Trump said. Trump authorized the deployment of 4,000 National Guard soldiers to the city against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. About 700 Marines were deployed to the Los Angeles area but had not yet been sent to respond to the protests. Newsom asked a federal court Tuesday to block Trump from using the military in his city. California leaders accused Trump of fanning protesters' anger and stoking the unrest. Trump also announced his administration was restoring the names of seven military bases that were given the monikers of Confederate leaders until being changed by the Biden administration. Fort Pickett, Fort Robert E. Lee and Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Gordon in Georgia, Fort Rucker in Alabama and Fort Polk in Louisiana will have their names changed back, Trump said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth already brought back the names of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning in Georgia. 'Can you believe they changed that name in the last administration for a little bit?' Trump said. 'We'll forget all about that.' As they did when they changed back Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, Defense officials announced Tuesday that they had identified service members with the same last names in order to make the change and not have the bases officially carry Confederate-related names. Before he spoke, Trump watched the U.S. Army demonstrate a missile strike, a helicopter assault and a building raid, a preview of the kind of show of American military might he's expected to display in the nation's capital for a massive military parade this weekend. Trump has promoted the Army's anniversary as a reason to hold the parade on Saturday, which is also his 79th birthday. Tanks and other vehicles will roll down city streets in a reminder of how the Republican president is reshaping the armed forces after returning to the White House this year. 'I think it's going to be great," Trump told reporters at the White House earlier Tuesday. "We're going to celebrate our country for a change.' As a backdrop to the parade, 'No Kings Day' protests are planned across the country on Saturday to push back against what critics see as the administration's draconian policies. Trump said earlier Tuesday that there would be more immigration raids and that any additional protests would be met with even greater force. Fort Bragg, which was briefly Fort Liberty and is located near Fayetteville, North Carolina, serves as headquarters for U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Highly trained units like the Green Berets and the 82nd Airborne are based there. The atmosphere resembled a state fair with military flair. Inflatable slides and attractions for children were set up in a field, with artillery, trucks and helicopters parked on another section of the lawn. Right outside the security checkpoint — but still on the base — two stands were selling Trump political hats, T-shirts and other paraphernalia. Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll were also at Tuesday's event, along with service members, veterans and their families. Driscoll, who spoke to the crowd before Trump arrived, called the president 'the greatest recruiter in our Army's history.' Hegseth told the crowd that the U.S. is 'restoring the warrior ethos' to its armed forces. 'We're not a college or a university. We're not interested in your woke garbage and political correctness,' Hegseth said, drawing cheers. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Hegseth faces sharp questions from Congress on deploying troops to LA and Pentagon spending
Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee oversight hearing on the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was met with sharp questions and criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who demanded details on his move to deploy troops to Los Angeles, and they expressed bipartisan frustration that Congress has not yet gotten a full defense budget from the Trump administration. 'Your tenure as secretary has been marked by endless chaos,' Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told Hegseth. Others, including Republican leaders, warned that massive spending projects such as President Donald Trump's desire for a $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system will get broad congressional scrutiny. The troop deployment triggered several fiery exchanges that at times devolved into shouting matches as committee members and Hegseth yelled over one another. After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million. Hegseth defended Trump's decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents as they do their jobs. And he suggested that the use of troops in the United States will continue to expand. 'I think we're entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,' he said. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing was the first time lawmakers have been able to challenge Trump's defense chief since he was confirmed. It is the first of three congressional hearings he will face this week. Lawmakers complained widely that Congress hasn't yet gotten details of the administration's first proposed defense budget, which Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a significant increase over the current spending level of more than $800 billion. And they said they are unhappy with the administration's efforts to go around Congress to push through changes. Key spending issues that have raised questions in recent weeks include plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on security upgrades to turn a Qatari jet into Air Force One and to pour as much as $45 million into a parade recently added to the Army's 250th birthday bash, which coincides with Trump's birthday Saturday. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., quizzed Hegseth on deploying about 700 active duty Marines to assist more than 4,100 National Guard troops in protecting federal buildings and personnel during immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. She got into a testy back-and-forth with him over the costs of the operation. He evaded the questions but later turned to MacDonnell, who provided the estimate and said it covers the costs of travel, housing and food. Hegseth said the 60-day deployment of troops is needed 'because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere." Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops are prohibited from policing U.S. citizens on American soil. Invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows troops to do that, is incredibly rare, and it's not clear if Trump plans to do it. The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, told lawmakers at a separate budget hearing Tuesday that the Marines who have arrived in Los Angeles have not yet been called on to respond. He said they have no arrest authority and are only there to protect federal property and federal personnel. When asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, about the danger Marines would use lethal force that could result in injuries and deaths, Smith said he is not concerned. "I have great faith in my Marines and their junior leaders and their more senior leaders to execute the lawful tasks that they are given.' Committee members pressed Hegseth on Ukraine's surprise drone attack in early June that destroyed a large number of Russian bomber aircraft. And they questioned the administration's future funding for Kyiv. Hegseth said the strikes caught the U.S. off guard and represented significant advances in drone warfare. The attack has the Pentagon rethinking drone defenses 'so we are not vulnerable to a threat and an attack like that,' he said, adding that the department is learning from Ukraine and is focused on how to better defend its own military airfields. He acknowledged, however, that funding for Ukraine military assistance, which has been robust for the past two years, will be reduced in the upcoming defense budget. That cut means that Kyiv will receive fewer of the weapons systems that have been key to countering Russia's onslaught. 'This administration takes a very different view of that conflict," he said. 'We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation's interests.' The U.S. to date has provided Ukraine more than $66 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in February 2022. The panel zeroed in on funding issues, with only a few mentions of other entanglements that have marked Hegseth's early months. They touched only briefly on his moves to fire key military leaders and purge diversity programs. And there was no discussion of his use of the Signal messaging app to discuss operational details of strikes in Yemen. Hegseth has spent vast amounts of time during his first five months in office promoting the social changes he's making at the Pentagon. He's been far less visible in the administration's more critical international security crises and negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Iran. Hegseth has posted numerous videos of his morning workouts with troops or of himself signing directives to purge diversity and equity programs and online content from the military. He has boasted of removing transgender service members from the force and firing so-called woke generals, many of whom were women. He was on the international stage about a week ago, addressing an annual national security conference in Asia about threats from China. But a trip to NATO headquarters last week was quick and quiet, and he deliberately skipped a gathering of about 50 allies and partners where they discussed support for Ukraine. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
California governor asks court to block Trump administration from using troops in immigration raids
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, CHRISTOPHER WEBER, LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP California Gov Gavin Newsom asked a federal court Tuesday to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, saying the practice would only heighten tensions. Newsom filed the emergency request after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment to LA of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines following protests driven by anger over the president's stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. The governor's request said it was in response to a change in orders for the Guard members, who were originally deployed to protect federal buildings. The court documents said sending troops on immigration raids would only escalate tensions and promote civil unrest. The Marines and another 2,000 National Guard troops were ordered to LA on Monday, adding to a military presence that local officials and Newsom do not want and that the police chief says makes it harder to handle the protests safely. Marine Corps Gen Eric Smith said Tuesday that the Marines deployed to the area had not yet been called to respond to the protests and were there only to protect federal officials and property. The Marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority, Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill. Paul Eck, deputy general counsel in the California Military Department, said the agency was informed that the Pentagon plans to direct the California National Guard to start providing support for immigration operations. That support would include holding secure perimeters around areas where raids are taking place and securing streets for immigration agents, he said in the governor's emergency request. According to U.S. officials, the California Guard members who were deployed were authorized to provide protection and secure streets and perimeters around areas where enforcement actions are taking place. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said the Guard members are not participating in any of the enforcement actions, but are providing security and have already been doing some of those missions in the Los Angeles area. Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It's one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a U.S. president. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see,' he said Tuesday from the Oval Office. 'But I can tell you last night was terrible, and the night before that was terrible.' Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. While protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, the demonstrations in the city of 4 million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown. On Monday, they were far less raucous, with thousands of people peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds more protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city. Los Angeles police said they made over 100 arrests Monday evening, mostly for failing to disperse the downtown area. One person was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and two police offers were injured, the department said. Obscene slogans directed at Trump and federal law enforcement remained scrawled across several buildings. At the Walt Disney Concert Hall, workers were busy washing away graffiti Tuesday morning. In nearby Santa Ana, armored Guard vehicles blocked a road leading to federal immigration and government offices. Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass. Sending in the military is the latest step in the administration's immigration crackdown as Trump pursues the mass deportations he promised last year during the presidential campaign. The protests have been driven by anger over enforcement that critics say is breaking apart migrant families. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Tuesday that the use of troops inside the U.S. will continue to expand. 'I think we're entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,' he said on Capitol Hill. The mayor and the governor say Trump is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don't need the help. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he was confident in the police department's ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines' arrival without coordinating with the police department would present a 'significant logistical and operational challenge.' The protests began Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across Los Angeles and continued over the weekend as crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Demonstrations have spread to other cities nationwide, including San Francisco, as well as Dallas and Austin, Texas. Authorities in Austin said police used pepper spray balls and tear gas to disperse a crowd that threw rocks and bottles at officers Monday, injuring four. The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs $134 million. That figure came out Tuesday just after Hegseth engaged in a testy back-and-forth about the costs during a congressional hearing. The defense secretary defended Trump's decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Democratic members of California's congressional delegation on Tuesday accused the president of creating a 'manufactured crisis' with his orders to send in troops. On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, seeking an order declaring Trump's use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment. Trump said the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not deployed the Guard. U.S. officials said the Marines were needed to protect federal buildings and personnel, including immigration agents. Despite their presence, there has been limited engagement so far between the Guard and protesters while local law enforcement implements crowd control. 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. 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. Associated Press writers Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Greg Bull in Seal Beach, California, contributed to this report. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
