logo
Trump deploying the National Guard is part of a bigger plan

Trump deploying the National Guard is part of a bigger plan

Vox3 hours ago

is a correspondent at Vox, where he covers the impacts of social and economic policies. He is the author of 'Within Our Means,' a biweekly newsletter on ending poverty in America.
After protests erupted in response to federal agents raiding businesses around Los Angeles to arrest immigrants, President Donald Trump quickly decided to dump fuel on the fire: On Saturday night, the president declared that he would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to the city.
Given that presidents usually only activate the National Guard upon a governor's request, it's an extraordinary step that bypasses California Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority, since Newsom made no such appeal.
This isn't the first time Trump has considered sending in the military to squash local protests. In 2020, when nationwide protests broke out after a police officer murdered George Floyd, Trump also wanted to display an overwhelming show of force to respond to the demonstrations — so much so that he even inquired about shooting protesters. But a standoff between Trump and the Pentagon eventually pushed the president to decide against deploying troops across the country.
This time, Trump has a more subservient Pentagon. On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on X that 'if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized,' adding that 'they are on high alert.'
The chaos unfolding in Los Angeles underscores that Americans are living under an administration that is far too eager to use the power of the state to suppress dissent and a president who is far too keen on siccing the military on American citizens. Trump's latest effort might make 2020 look like a trial run and shows just how unrestrained the president has become.
Can Trump deploy the National Guard without governors' consent?
It is generally illegal to use federal troops for law enforcement within the United States. But there are exceptions. The Insurrection Act — one of the president's emergency powers — allows the president to use the military against American citizens on domestic soil, including in nonconsenting states, to quell an armed rebellion or extreme civil unrest.
That's why President Lyndon B. Johnson was able to deploy the National Guard to Alabama without its governor's consent in 1965 — the last time a president activated a state's National Guard troops against that state's wishes, as Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the New York Times. The Insurrection Act itself was last invoked in 1992, when President George H. W. Bush used it to send troops to Los Angeles in response to the Rodney King riots. However, that action was taken upon then-Gov. Pete Wilson's request.
So far, Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act. Instead, he has cited Section ​​12406 of the US Code, which gives the president the authority to call members of the National Guard of any state into federal service when 'there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' The president can use as many troops as he considers necessary to 'repel the invasion' or 'suppress the rebellion.'
That statute, however, is more limited than the Insurrection Act since it applies only to the National Guard and not the US Armed Forces more broadly. It also states that the order to call in National Guard troops should be issued by governors.
Since California did not issue that order, Newsom has said Trump's move to federalize California's National Guard is 'unlawful' and requested that the federal government rescind the deployment. Newsom indicated that his office intends to sue the Trump administration over this matter.
Trump is escalating his assault on Americans' fundamental rights — just like he said he would
Trump has long made clear his disdain for dissent and protests against him, and now he's taking it to the next level.
His move to deploy National Guard troops in California is already an escalation from how he responded to the George Floyd protests in 2020. At the time, Trump focused his efforts on Washington, DC, where — perhaps in a prelude to how he is handling the protests in Los Angeles today — he sent National Guard troops from 11 states into the nation's capital. DC's mayor objected to the deployment, but because DC is not a state, Trump had more leeway to exercise military muscle. He ultimately decided against deploying the military in other states.
Trump's reliance on federal officers to squash protests made DC a testing ground for a strategy he could eventually try elsewhere. What he's now doing in California is the natural next step.
Indeed, after Trump left the White House in 2021, he lamented over his administration's supposed restraint during the George Floyd protests and said that should he return to power, he wouldn't wait for governors to make requests for federal assistance. 'You're supposed to not be involved in that, you just have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in,' he said in a 2023 campaign rally. 'The next time, I'm not waiting.' During the campaign trail, he and his allies mapped out plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day back in office to quell protests with military force.
That is precisely why so many feared a second Trump term. Where Trump may have shown more restraint in his first administration — because he feared political consequences or because some officials stood in the way — critics feared he would be more unleashed in his second, both because he has nothing to lose and because his Cabinet would be staffed with even more loyalists. And that seems to be what's happening now, with the Pentagon seeming just as eager as Trump to unleash the US military on US soil and against American citizens.
This is all part of Trump's broader assault on democracy — and his attack on the First Amendment in particular. Since coming back to the White House, Trump hasn't hesitated to punish people for exercising their right to free speech and their right to protest, going after students for participating in protests against Israel. His administration has detained and tried to deport protesters for merely expressing pro-Palestinian views, sending unidentified plainclothes immigration officers to abduct dissidents.
Trump is now trying to use the might of the US military to further suppress people's free speech rights, dramatically expanding his crackdown on people's rights. And while Trump cited 'violence and disorder' as the reason he deployed National Guard troops, local law enforcement had not indicated that they were in need of federal assistance to restore order.
What likely pushed Trump to deploy the National Guard (and get other members of the Armed Forces ready) is that he simply saw an opportunity to do so and he seized it. He is clearly more emboldened and even more averse to norms than ever before.
Since Trump got himself involved in the protests, tensions have only escalated. But if anything, that might be what Trump wants: a dramatic standoff between protesters and federal troops. Ultimately, this strategy is less about 'law and order' and more about sending a message to Americans across the country: speak out against Trump and there will be consequences.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Republicans focus on trans athletes in their early attacks against Jon Ossoff in Georgia
Republicans focus on trans athletes in their early attacks against Jon Ossoff in Georgia

Yahoo

time39 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Republicans focus on trans athletes in their early attacks against Jon Ossoff in Georgia

In the early stages of the campaign, Republicans seeking to unseat Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the key races of the 2026 midterm elections are leaning heavily into attacks over transgender athletes in women's sports. Two GOP-aligned groups launched ads on the issue in recent weeks. And GOP Rep. Buddy Carter hit the airwaves with an ad prodding Ossoff on the issue soon after launching his campaign. Republican candidates and campaigns have frequently leaned on culture war issues in recent years as a way to excite the base and frame Democrats as out of touch, particularly in red-leaning states. And they're even more emboldened after President Donald Trump bombarded then-Vice President Kamala Harris with an onslaught of ads that attacked her support for transgender people during the 2024 election. But while Democrats are gearing up for a difficult re-election fight for Ossoff in a state Trump won narrowly in 2024, they think the issue will be drowned out by voters' concerns about the economy, particularly Trump's handling of it. Even so, it's an issue for which Democrats lack a consensus about how to respond to GOP broadsides, as prominent members of the party grapple with whether to embrace protecting the transgender community as part of their values, deflect the question, or come out against including transgender athletes in women's sports. Ossoff is the only Democratic incumbent defending a seat in a state Trump won last year, making him far-and-away the top target for Senate Republicans. Still, some Republicans admit that Ossoff will be difficult to beat, particularly now that Gov. Brian Kemp decided not to seek the seat. The early Republican criticism of Ossoff points to the Democratic senator's vote on legislation in February that would make it a Title IX violation (jeopardizing federal education funding) for states to allow transgender women and girls to participate in female sports. The bill failed to get the 60 votes it needed to advance in the Senate. One Nation, the nonprofit aligned with Senate Republicans' main super PAC, has spent at least $400,000 airing an ad reminiscent of a key tagline from one of Trump's anti-Harris ads from last year: 'Man-to-man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff, he's playing for they/them.' Carter's opening salvo of ads included a spot touting the congressman's MAGA credentials while a person purporting to be a transgender woman holds sports trophies and stands in front of a transgender pride flag talking about how Ossoff has been an ally to the community. Asked about the GOP criticism of that vote, Ossoff campaign communications director Ellie Dougherty told NBC News in a statement that 'American parents don't need federal bureaucrats confirming our children's genitalia,' a reference to how a state might enforce the mandate in the Republican bill. Scott Paradise, who managed Republican Herschel Walker's losing Senate campaign in 2022, told NBC News that Ossoff's first Senate run in 2020 provided a 'perfect storm' that allowed Ossoff to position himself as a 'centrist' by narrowing his focus to 'bread-and-butter issues.' 'If he's talking about the economy or he's talking about moments where he has stood with the right — whether it's Middle East, to the extent he has on immigration — it's easier for him to muddy the waters. But this is such a black-and-white issue in a center-right state' that allows Republicans to try to frame him as out of step, Paradise said. Polling broadly shows the American public doesn't support transgender women playing in female sports. Last month's NBC News Stay Tuned Poll, powered by SurveyMonkey found that 75% opposed it and 25% supported it. Other national polling has found similar trends. That's one reason why Trump's campaign focused heavily on the issue in ads, arguing that Harris was outside the mainstream and pointing to her past support for gender-affirming treatments for prison inmates. After the election, Democrats have disagreed over whether the party's position on transgender rights, particularly in women's sports, cost them electorally. Asked about the attacks last month during an interview on "Political Breakfast," a podcast hosted by Georgia's public radio affiliate, Ossoff said the big early spending is a signal to him that "demonstrates the national GOP understands the strength that I'll be bringing to this re-election campaign." The Democrat called Republicans, particularly GOP political consultants, "obsessed and preoccupied with this issue." Thinking ahead about "top of mind" issues for voters in 2026, Ossoff added, will it be "whether or not federal bureaucrats are investigating the sexual biology of adolescent athletes? I don't think so," he added. Amy Morton, a Democratic strategist in Georgia, elaborated that she believes the midterms will instead be a "referendum on the economy" and Trump's handling of it, emphasizing the Democratic attacks on the GOP's broad policy bill that's working its way through Congress. "They're going to continue to lean into that issue because they don't want to talk about the issues that are really impacting Georgians," she said, adding, "They made a strategic decision to wrap their arms around Donald Trump so there won't be a degree of separation between his failure as an executive and their failure." A Democratic strategist who worked on Sen. Raphael Warnock's successful re-election in Georgia in 2022 added that, like their former boss, Ossoff's high-profile elections have helped to define him in the state, making them skeptical that a GOP attempt to brand him as extreme will stick. They added that while Warnock's 2022 Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, leaned heavily on social issues during his unsuccessful bid, Kemp won comfortably with a very different message on the same ballot, showing how a campaign can focus on the issues it wants and leave others to the side. "You saw Brian Kemp run an extremely disciplined race on the economy. You were hard-pressed to get Kemp on the record about abortion in 2022 — the man was laser-focused on small businesses, jobs and the economy. That was the consistent message you heard out of Brian Kemp. You compare that to Herschel Walker and, you can do the math: 300,000 votes," the Democrat said. But the economy was also a top issue in the 2024 election, and Trump and the Republican Party still managed to turn their attacks on trans issues into a memorable tagline that stuck with some voters. That's why one national Republican strategist told NBC News that the attack isn't a "replacement" for a cogent economic argument, but "part of the equation." 'It's an issue that obviously had a massive impact in 2024. The Trump campaign's 'Harris is for they/them' ad is one of the greatest ads of our generation in that it's so simple and was so effective,' the strategist said. Ads about transgender participants in women's sports can run "on top of: Oh, he also voted to help ensure that illegal immigrants get government-paid health care and he voted against the Laken Riley amendment in 2024 before it was convenient," the strategist added. While the transgender sports attacks are drawing headlines, both sides have been running ads focused on spending in Washington, too. Democrats have attacked the GOP's policy bill working its way through Washington, and Republicans hit Ossoff for backing former President Joe Biden's signature spending bill in 2022. Tharon Johnson, a Georgia Democratic strategist who worked for Biden's 2020 campaign in the state, agreed that Republicans are "going to be hard-pressed to make Jon Ossoff into this radical," in part because of his work both in office and on the campaign trail. And while he believes the situation Harris found herself in last year isn't the same one Ossoff finds himself in now, he said Democrats can still draw a lesson from it: "Respond sooner, and more effectively." So far, Ossoff's response has been to stay focused on the economy and try to frame the debate as about local control. This article was originally published on

Trump backs arrest of California governor amid LA protest strains
Trump backs arrest of California governor amid LA protest strains

Yahoo

time39 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump backs arrest of California governor amid LA protest strains

US President Donald Trump said Monday it would be "great" if California Governor Gavin Newsom was arrested, in an extraordinary threat as the two men sparred over protests in Los Angeles. Republican Trump, 78, deployed the National Guard in America's second city on Saturday after clashes erupted over immigration raids -- but he did not seek the Democratic governor's consent, the first time a US president has taken such an action in 60 years. As temperatures rose, Newsom, 57, then dared Trump's border czar Tom Homan over the weekend to arrest him, after Homan said the governor and LA Mayor Karen Bass could face federal charges of trying to impede immigration agents. "I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great," Trump told reporters when asked if Homan should arrest Newsom, as the Republican president arrived on his Marine One helicopter at the White House. "Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing." Trump said Newsom, who has been widely tipped as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, had "done a terrible job" in curbing the Los Angeles clashes. "Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he's a nice guy -- but he's grossly incompetent, everybody knows," Trump said. Trump later said that "I don't want a civil war," but that "civil war would happen if you left it to people like him." Newsom has bitterly accused Trump of manufacturing the crisis for political gain, saying that local law authorities could have handled the protests without the National Guard. On Sunday, he blasted border chief Homan, telling MSNBC: "Come after me, arrest me, let's just get it over with, tough guy." The Democrat then branded Trump as "dictatorial" later Monday after the Trump administration deployed 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles. dk/jgc

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store