LA protests live: Trump defends sending troops as anti-ICE rallies spread

Al Jazeera

2 days ago

United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on his decision to deploy about 700 Marines to control Los Angeles protests against his immigration policies, while doubling the number of National Guard members to 4,000.California Governor Gavin Newsom, who said yesterday he would sue the Trump administration over the National Guard deployment, has accused the president of using members of the military as 'political pawns'.Trump is set to deliver a speech at North Carolina's Fort Bragg later today, marking the army's 250th anniversary days before a massive Washington, DC parade on Saturday.High-level US-China trade talks have been continuing in London for a second day, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying negotiations are going well.
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Date: 14m ago (16:00 GMT)
Title: If you're just joining
Content: Here are the latest updates:
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Date: 34m ago (15:40 GMT)
Title: Is it legal for Trump to deploy Marines, National Guard to Los Angeles?
Content: It's complicated.
Trump has cited Title 10 of the US Code in justifying deploying National Guard troops, who answer to both California's governor and the president.
The law 'allows the president to deploy National Guard units into federal service if the US is invaded, there is a 'rebellion or danger of rebellion' or the president is 'unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States'.
California governor Newsom, in a legal challenge, has said neither of those standards have been met, while also arguing the law requires Trump to get his approval to deploy National Guard troops.
When it comes to the Marines, the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act mostly forbids the military from taking part in domestic law enforcement, however troops can be deployed to provide logistical support and to protect federal property.
However, the Insurrection Act of 1807, when invoked, suspends the limitations on the military's legal ability to conduct domestic law enforcement.
The Trump administration has not yet invoked the law, but Trump, his vice president and his top adviser have all referred to the California protests as an 'insurrection', in what analysts say could be laying the groundwork to do so.
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Date: 44m ago (15:30 GMT)
Title: US NIH director says hopeful will settle with universities over suspended grants
Content: National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has told a US Senate panel he was hopeful that President Donald Trump's administration would reach a settlement with universities that have had research grants suspended.
'I'm very hopeful that a resolution being made with the universities where those decisions have been made, where those grants have been paused,' Bhattacharya said while appearing at a hearing of the Senate Appropriation Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the NIH's 2026 budget request.
The NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5 bn and an additional $2.6 bn in contracts since Trump took office January 20, dozens of scientists, researchers and other employees at the agency said in a public letter. The contracts often support research, from covering equipment to nursing staff working on clinical trials.
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Date: 54m ago (15:20 GMT)
Title: Hegseth grilled on cost of LA troop deployment
Content: The Pentagon chief has been taking questions during a hearing in front of House Defense Appropriations subcommittee.
In one exchange, Representative Betty McCollum, a Democrat, questioned Hegseth on the troop deployment to Los Angeles, which includes about 700 Marines and over 4,000 members of the National Guard.
Hegseth mostly evaded the question, except to say the department has a budget increase and the money to cover the costs.
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Date: 1h ago (15:10 GMT)
Title: US ambassador to Israel questions whether Palestinian state needs be in Palestinian territory
Content: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has indicated a shift from Washington's longstanding support of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg news published today, Huckabee did not oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, but questioned if it had to be on what is currently occupied Palestinian territory.
'Where is it going to be? Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?' he said, referring to the biblical name for the occupied West Bank often used by the Israeli government.
'Does it need to be somewhere different? Does it need to be an opportunity for people to have a true place that is completely their own? Or is it going to be in the existing areas that are currently under the dominion of the PA (Palestinian Authority)?' he said.
Huckabee, a staunch evangelical, has supported illegal Israeli settlement that rights groups say represent the largest impediment to a future Palestinian state.
During his Republican presidential campaign, he maintained 'there's really no such thing as a Palestinian'.
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Date: 1h ago (15:00 GMT)
Title: Why is the LAPD opposing Trump's Marine deployment?
Content: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has said the deployment of Marines to the city will make its job harder.
On Monday, Police Chief Jim McDonnell released a statement saying the LAPD had not received a formal notification that the Marines would be coming to LA.
'The possible arrival of 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,' he said.
McDonnell added that the LAPD and its partners 'have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively'.
History indicates that a lack of communication, coupled with differences in approach based on different agencies' training, can inflame already tense situations that law enforcement officials confront.
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Update:
Date: 1h ago (14:50 GMT)
Title: Pentagon chief says troops deployed to LA to 'protect' ICE agents
Content: Speaking during a congressional hearing, Hegseth framed the deployment of Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles as meant to bolster immigration agents as they conduct raids throughout the city.
'We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties,' he said.
Facing immigration enforcement resource shortages, the Trump administration has long eyed a potentially military role in its mass deportation campaign.
Trump had already deployed active troops to the US border to support immigration agents there, although the Marines can only provide logistical support under US law.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (14:40 GMT)
Title: Rally in solidarity with LA protests against ICE in Austin, Texas
Content:
Update:
Date: 1h ago (14:30 GMT)
Title: US Homeland Security secretary vows more immigration raids
Content: Kristi Noem has defended Trump's decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, while vowing to continue the immigration raids that sparked the protests.
Noem made the comments in an interview with Fox New's Sean Hannity yesterday, in which she accused Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of protecting 'criminals' in the city.
'She's holding press conferences, talking about the fact that people have the right to peacefully protest and that they're a city of immigrants,' Noem said. 'They're not a city of immigrants, they're a city of criminals because she has protected them for so many years.'
Noem last week pressured immigration agents to reach a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, far above the previous 1,000 arrest per day quota that the agency was already struggling to meet.
Immigration advocates have said the quotas put pressure on agents to take increasingly drastic measures to make arrests, leading them to target longtime community members.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (14:20 GMT)
Title: US Commerce Secretary says China trade talks going well
Content: The positive prognosis comes as trade talks between the two economic giants entered their second day in London.
Both sides had agreed to step back from a full-blown trade war at a first round of talks in Geneva in May. They are now seeking a breakthrough on a raft of recently imposed export controls.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday that the US could lift controls on goods such as semiconductors if China sped up the delivery of rare earths and magnets that are crucial to its economy.
'(Talks went on) all day yesterday, and I expect (them) all day today,' Commerce Secretary Lutnick told reporters today. 'They're going well, and we're spending lots of time together.'
The talks come after Trump and Xi talked by phone last week.
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