President Donald Trump vowed to step in to do the job of maligned California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass amid the riots in Los Angeles, hailing the quick work of the National Guard and announcing a ban on masks at protests.
"Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes, and unrest," Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. "We have an incompetent Governor (Newscum) and Mayor (Bass) who were, as usual (just look at how they handled the fires, and now their very slow permitting disaster. Federal permitting is complete!), unable to handle the task.
"These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will not be tolerated.
"Also, from now on, masks will not be allowed to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???
"Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!"
Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.
National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday. Members of California’s National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defense that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle.
On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would “keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.”
In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty Marines “if violence continues” in the region.
"If Gov. Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the federal government will step in and solve the problem, riots & looters, the way it should be solved!!!" Trump wrote Saturday night on his social media site.
Between those posts, Trump walked into the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, for UFC 316 on Saturday night with Dana White, receiving a long, loud ovation to Kid Rock's "Cowboy" blaring on the speakers. Trump posted a video of the entrance on Truth Social.
Coincidentally, the Democrat-run city of Newark has also been in the news for ICE protests as its mayor, Ras Baraka, running for governor in the state targeted by Trump to flip from Democrat control, was arrested at a detention center for obstructing federal law enforcement.
Los Angeles tensions were high after sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in the city's fashion district and at a Home Depot as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
The White House announced Trump would deploy the Guard to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester."
Newsom posted on X that it was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions." He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.
Information from The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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