Latest news with #GenGregoryGuillot
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds of National Guard forces deployed to L.A. by Trump could be sent to wildfire duty
A military commander has discussed shifting some California National Guard troops away from the Trump administration's weekslong deployment to deal with protests in Los Angeles so they can help fight wildfires, two U.S. officials told CBS News. Gen. Gregory Guillot, the leader of U.S. Northern Command, made the request to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, proposing that 200 out of roughly 4,000 California National Guard members be moved from Los Angeles to wildfire duty elsewhere in California. The request to shift some troops to wildfire duty was first reported by The Associated Press. The purpose of the possible move is to help prepare for wildfire season, one U.S. official said. The other official said they could be placed on standby to respond to wildfires. Wildfires can happen at any time of year in California, but they usually peak in the summer and fall. The state expects an "early and active season" this year, with above-average activity in July and August, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. The Los Angeles deployment has been controversial and subject to legal challenges. President Trump called up around 4,000 Guard members — and deployed around 700 Marines — over California Gov. Gavin Newsom's objections, moves Mr. Trump argued were necessary to protect federal buildings and immigration agents from chaotic protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Newsom argued the deployment was illegal and unnecessary. When Mr. Trump initially called up the California National Guard to deal with protests, the state had warned the move could interfere with its wildfire response. Guard forces often work alongside Cal Fire crews — and as wildfires become more frequent and severe, state officials have said more resources are needed. Newsom's office said last week the Guard's firefighting force was only at 40% capacity due to the Los Angeles deployment. "This deployment comes when California is in the midst of peak wildfire season for both Northern and Southern California and may need to rely on their crucial support," the state of California wrote in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the deployment. A federal district court judge initially sided with the state in its lawsuit, but a panel of appellate court judges paused that ruling, allowing Mr. Trump to maintain control of the Guard. The troops were shifted to federal service earlier this month under a law known as Title 10, which lets the president call up National Guard forces during a "rebellion" or if "the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States." The Trump administration argued those conditions were met due to threats of violence against immigration agents who carried out arrests in the Los Angeles area. Newsom objected to the move, and the state quickly filed a lawsuit calling it a "power grab." The state argued that under the law cited by the administration, Mr. Trump does not have the legal authority to call up the Guard without permission from the governor. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ultimately sided with the Trump administration, allowing troops to remain in Los Angeles while the state's lawsuit is heard. The court wrote that Mr. Trump most likely "lawfully exercised his statutory authority" to federalize the Guard, and that the law "does not give governors any veto power." Saving money vs. saving lives The true cost of the Senate spending bill New Tennessee laws make it illegal to shelter undocumented immigrants
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. military asks Trump administration to return some National Guard troops to California command
The military commander of the National Guard troops deployed to respond to immigration-related unrest in the Los Angeles area has asked the Trump administration to return 200 troops to California's command, a U.S. official told The Times. The request, first reported by the Associated Press, comes as fire season returns and the National Guard unit assigned to combating wildfires is at just 40% of its regular staffing levels, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. The level of protest-related unrest has also decreased since demonstrations began on June 6 in response to a series of surprise immigration raids. Read more: California's National Guard fire crews are operating at 40% capacity due to Trump's deployment Although the head of the Guard's U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Gregory Guillot, initiated the conversation with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to return the 200 troops, the decision about where they will be redeployed rests with the adjutant general of the California National Guard, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as no decision has been announced publicly. The California Military Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on where the troops would be sent should the request be approved. One of those who has been most outspoken about demanding the return of the National Guard to California command is Newsom, who has called President Trump's federalization of more than 4,000 troops illegal and continues to battle their deployment in court. "We're glad to see the top military commander overseeing Trump's illegal militarization of Los Angeles agree: it's time to pull back National Guard troops and get them back to their critical firefighting duties," Newsom said in a Monday statement. "President Trump: listen to your military leaders and stop the political theater." Last week, the governor highlighted the dangers of keeping the National Guard troops in Los Angeles while the Guard's firefighting crews known as Task Force Rattlesnake are "critically understaffed." On Monday, he said federalization of the Guard has already affected firefighting efforts, leaving the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to step in to fill the gaps. Read more: California fire season is off to a furious start, and experts say it's just the beginning Task Force Rattlesnake consists of 300 National Guard members who work at the direction of Cal Fire to combat and prevent fires. Eight of task force's 14 firefighting crews have been diverted to Los Angeles for protest duty, according to the governor's office. Multiple wildfires burned across Southern California on Monday, including the Wolf and Juniper fires in Riverside County, which had burned more than 2,400 and 680 acres, respectively, by 3:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire. Experts have been warning that the region's below-average rainy season is likely to set the stage for a particularly bad stretch of fires this summer and fall. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
CNN
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
US military expected to announce two new zones where service members can detain migrants on southern border, officials say
The US Navy and Air Force are expected to announce the establishment of two additional military zones along the US southern border this week, three US officials told CNN. The zones, which are known as National Defense Areas, will be attached to Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, the officials said. The NDA around Joint Base San Antonio will include roughly 250 miles of the Rio Grande River, two of the officials added. The NDA near MCAS Yuma will extend over 100 miles along the border, the third official said. The new zones will bring the total count up to four, after the establishment of the Texas National Defense Area attached to Fort Bliss, Texas, in May, and the New Mexico National Defense Area attached to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in April. 'The establishment of a second National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,' US Northern Command commander Gen. Gregory Guillot said after the establishment of the Texas National Defense Area. 'This is the second area in which Joint Task Force – Southern Border service members who are already detecting and monitoring through stationary positions and mobile patrols nearby can now temporarily detain trespassers until they are transferred to an appropriate law enforcement entity.' US troops are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activities by the Posse Comitatus Act. But the defense areas are treated as extensions of military installations, allowing service members to temporarily detain migrants who are trespassing before handing them off to law enforcement, conduct cursory searches of trespassers, and conduct crowd-control measures. Democratic lawmakers have criticized the defense areas as a way to side-step the act. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senates Armed Services Committee, said last month that the NDAs 'evade the long-standing protections of the Posse Comitatus Act by allowing military forces to act as de facto border police, detaining migrants until they can be transferred to Customs and Border Protection.' 'In the Administration's telling, this approach permits military involvement in immigration control without invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807,' Reed said. 'This is both unprecedented and a legal fiction. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico also raised concerns to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last month that the Trump administration is 'bypassing due process for individuals who either intentionally or unintentionally enter this newly restricted area.' Service members began directly detaining migrants in June. The Department of Justice only just got its first convictions related to trespassing in the NDAs this month. According to the Justice Department, two individuals pleaded guilty to charges including trespassing into the New Mexico National Defense Area. In both cases, the individuals were apprehended by Border Patrol agents. Dozens of national security charges against migrants were dropped by a judge in New Mexico earlier this month after they found little evidence that the migrants knew about the defense areas. The establishment of the new defense areas comes as over 4,000 National Guard troops and roughly 700 active duty Marines are currently mobilized in the Los Angeles area, in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
What is the "Golden Dome for America"? Here's what to know about Trump's missile defense plan.
President Trump's missile defense project, called the "Golden Dome for America," aims to protect the U.S. from foreign threats. But it has been criticized by China as threatening to increase the risks of militarizing space and a global arms race. The president on Tuesday said his administration had "selected an architecture" for the "state-of-the-art system," which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and put U.S. weapons in space for the first time in history. What is the Golden Dome and how will it work? The Golden Dome is a multilayered defense system that the president, speaking in the Oval Office alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said will deploy "next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors." "The Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space," the president said, adding that he wants it to be operational before his term ends. The concept includes both ground- and space-based capabilities that would defend against missiles by: detecting and destroying them ahead of launch, intercepting them early in flight, halting them midcourse and stopping them in the last few moments of approaching a target. The initiative would have multiple layers that expand on what the U.S. already has and build new programs to counter the full range of aerial threats, according to Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, who testified in front of Congress in April. He described a domain awareness layer to track threats and then two other layers, "the first being an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) defeat layer, which largely exists today with the GBIs (ground-based interceptors) that can defeat a North Korean threat and then an air layer that would defeat cruise missiles and air threats." "This is not going to be off the cuff," Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CBS News in an interview. "This is going to be well-rooted in the systems engineering and the understanding of the threat and in the overall architecture plans that have been in the works for a long time," Karako said. The new initiative, which will encompass many programs, will be built in states including Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Alaska, according to Mr. Trump, and involve multiple American defense and technology companies that have not yet been selected. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated a cost of $542 billion for the space-based components alone. Aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, which said on X it is ready to support the dome mission, describes it as a "revolutionary concept." "This is a Manhattan Project-scale mission, one that is both urgent and crucial to America's security," the company says. Lockheed Martin COO Frank St. John said it would protect against nuclear missiles, as well as intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles, and other threats. Mr. Trump said U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein would be responsible for overseeing the dome's progress. However, there is no funding yet to match the plan, which is "still in the conceptual stage," Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators on Tuesday at a hearing. The Pentagon is also still developing the requirements that the dome will have to meet, The Associated Press reported. Israel's Iron Dome The Golden Dome idea first came to public light during Mr. Trump's joint address to Congress in March, when he asked for funding for it. He said, "Israel has it, other places have it, and the United States should have it, too." The president was referring to Israel's Iron Dome, which at least partially inspired the Golden Dome concept. Israel's system, installed in 2011 to defend against incoming projectiles, largely addresses shorter-range threats like rockets, while two other air defense systems work to defend against missiles. The Iron Dome, developed with U.S. backing, has intercepted thousands of rockets and has a success rate topping 90%, according to Israel. China responds Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said her country urges the U.S. "to abandon the development and deployment of a global missile defense system as soon as possible." "The United States, in pursuing a 'U.S.-first' policy, is obsessed with seeking absolute security for itself," she said at a Wednesday briefing in Beijing, according to news agencies. "This violates the principle that the security of all countries should not be compromised and undermines global strategic balance and stability. China is seriously concerned about this." She also said the Golden Dome plan "heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield" and "fuels an arms race." When asked about China's response in an interview on "Fox & Friends First," Lockheed Martin's St. John said, "What we've seen historically is that the thing that leads to conflict is the lack of deterrence, and so our belief, along with the administration, is that having strong deterrence is the best way to deter conflict." A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment shows that the U.S. military expects, over the coming decade, to contend with missile threats that are greater in "scale and sophistication." It also said that "China and Russia are developing an array of novel delivery systems to exploit gaps in the current U.S. ballistic missile defenses." China has been rapidly developing missile and other military capabilities, while deepening ties with Russia. The two nations said in a statement earlier this month that the dome project was "deeply destabilizing in nature" and would turn space into "an arena for armed confrontation." Karako said that the Golden Dome initiative is "a belated realignment of U.S. missile defense policy" to counter both China and Russia, countries that the last two administrations in their national defense strategies have pointed to as strategic competitors.
