NPR News

Trump mobilizes Marines and more National Guard troops for duty in LA

By Tom Bowman

Published June 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM CDT

National Guard troops stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center on Sunday in Los Angeles. Tensions in the city remain high after the Trump administration called in the National Guard against the wishes of city leaders following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids.

Updated June 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM CDT

The Trump administration is mobilizing 700 Marines based out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., for Los Angeles, the scene of protests against immigration enforcement operations, a defense official confirmed with NPR before it was publicly announced.

U.S. Northern Command said in a statement on Monday that the infantry battalion had been put on "alert status" over the weekend and will be working with the National Guard "who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area."

The Defense Department is also mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X Monday night. President Trump authorized the deployment of the first 2,000 guards over the weekend. It was unclear when all of them would arrive on the ground.

Another U.S. official told NPR the use of Marines was not an invocation of the Insurrection Act. Trump has not said that the clashes amount to an insurrection, though he has referred to protesters as "insurrectionists."

"I wouldn't call it quite an insurrection, but it could have led to an insurrection," Trump told reporters on Monday. He also said that the situation in California was "heading in the right direction" when asked if he would deploy Marines.

The activation of Marines came the same day California sued the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.

In their lawsuit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Trump's activation of the Guard violated the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because Newsom did not ask for the troops.

Newsom told NPR's All Things Considered that the deployment of National Guard troops was "an illegal act. It's immoral. It's also unconstitutional, and the mobilization order that was sent to the Guard has a statute that requires that it shall be issued through the governors of the states."

Trump on Truth Social said Monday that Los Angeles would be "completely obliterated" without his deployment of the Guard.

Over the weekend, the White House said that active duty armed forces could be used to "augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property," the same missions the Guard is performing.