California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the Trump administration to rescind its “unlawful” deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state.
President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the city to quell protests over federal immigration raids, in a move that Newsom criticized as unnecessary and “purposefully inflammatory.” The president signed a memo on Saturday ordering the deployment of 2,000 troops, marking the first time since 1965 that a president has activated the National Guard without state consent or request. Troops began arriving on Sunday.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty—inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed,” Newsom, a Democrat, wrote on X Sunday evening.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Rescind the order. Return control to California,” he added.
He shared a copy of a letter his office had addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally urging him to rescind the order. It argued that local law enforcement had the situation under control and said the deployment was made without the legally required coordination with the governor.
“There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner and for such a lengthy period is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the State from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required,” the letter states.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told CNN she agreed with the governor’s request for troops to be withdrawn.
“I don’t think that is the way to bring peace in Los Angeles. I think that our law enforcement officers can handle this situation,” she said in an interview.
“It’s a feeling here of intentional chaos,” she added. “In a situation that had not broken out to violence short of a few people—and there’s nothing unusual about that—and our police departments can manage that."
A group of nearly two dozen Democratic governors also condemned what they called Trump’s “alarming abuse of power” in federalizing California’s National Guard.
“Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous,” the joint statement said.
The 22 governors—including New York’s Kathy Hochul, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Minnesota’s Tim Walz—said they stood with Newsom, “who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation.”
The White House claims the guard was deployed because “violent mobs” had attacked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers carrying out deportation operations in Los Angeles.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted in a statement on Saturday that Trump ordered the troops in because “California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
