RISKY POLICINGTrump’s Military Response to Protests: A Conversation on Law and Precedent
“The federalized response to riots in Los Angeles will inspire demonstrations in other cities, not just against ICE and its tactics, but against the use of military forces in civilian law enforcement. If those demonstrations turn violent, they could lure the president to use military forces elsewhere within the United States—creating a dangerous feedback loop with a very uncertain ending,” says Peter Mansour.
Editor’s note: A federal appeals court seemed likely Tuesday to allow President Donald Trump to keep National Guard troops on the ground in Los Angeles. Reuters reports that members of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned during a hearing on Tuesday what role courts should have in reviewing President Donald Trump’s authority to deploy the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles amid protests and civil unrest.
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This Expert Brief combines responses to questions posed to Matthew C. Waxman, adjunct senior fellow for law and foreign policy, and Peter Mansoor, CFR member and General Ramond E. Mason Jr. military history chair at Ohio State University.
On June 6, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out mass raids arresting unauthorized immigrants across Los Angeles and Southern California. The arrests sparked protests outside a federal courthouse in LA. In response, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum authorizing the deployment of at least two thousand National Guard members to protect ICE and federal property. On June 13, about two hundred U.S. Marines arrived in the city to support the National Guard at the president’s order.
California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the administration that same day for “unlawfully” bypassing his permission to deploy federal troops to the state after a formal request that the Trump administration retract its troop deployment was ignored. District Judge Charles Breyer, the federal judge on the case, rejected Trump’s rationale for federalizing the troops and ordered the president to relinquish control of the California National Guard. However, a federal appeals court paused Judge Breyer’s ruling to consider the Trump administration’s appeal, allowing the National Guard to remain in LA. Judge Breyer did not rule on the legality of deploying Marines in the state.
What is the Trump administration’s legal justification for deploying the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles?
MATTHEW C. WAXMAN: The president has declared that he is sending in federalized National Guard troops and other military personnel, pursuant to a combination of his constitutional and statutory powers, to protect federal personnel and federal government facilities. The essence of his claim is that violent protests threaten these federal instrumentalities and that California state authorities lack the ability or will to protect against those threats.
