President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that if he hadn't sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the last three nights, the city would be "burning to the ground," comparing the situation to the wildfires that devastated the city last year.
"If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. do to an incompetent Governor and Mayor," he posted on Truth Social.
Trump has ordered 2,000 more National Guard troops, along with 700 Marines, to LA, in addition to 2,000 Guard troops sent over the weekend to the city, where protests are raging over immigration laws critics say are breaking up migrant families.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass say Trump's descriptions of the situation are not as dire as he claims, and insist he's putting public safety at risk by sending military personnel into the city.
Trump on Tuesday, turning his attack to the reaction to the wildfires, claimed that the local process for rebuilding has been "more difficult, time consuming, and stringent," while the "FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS is virtually complete on these houses."
"The easy and simple City and State Permits are disastrously bungled up and WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE!" Trump said. "They are a total mess, and will be for a long time. People want to rebuild their houses. Call your incompetent Governor and Mayor, the Federal permitting is DONE!!!"
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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