House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is “not concerned at all” over President Donald Trump’s order to send 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests that have resulted in clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.
“I think the president did exactly what he needed to do,” Johnson told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday. “These are federal laws and we have to maintain the rule of law. And that is not what is happening. [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or unwillingness to do what is necessary there.”
“That is real leadership, and he has the authority and the responsibility to do it,” the speaker said, defending Trump’s decision.
California officials have said deploying the National Guard is unnecessary. Newsom said the move was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
“The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate. That is not the way any civilized country behaves,” the governor posted on X.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will be mobilized “if violence continues.”
Asked about Hegseth’s comments, Johnson said, “One of our core principles is maintaining peace through strength. We do that on foreign affairs and domestic affairs as well. I don’t think that’s heavy-handed.”
“You don’t think sending Marines into the streets of an American city is heavy-handed?” Karl pressed.
“We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect,” the speaker said.
The president’s decision to deploy the National Guard comes after his dramatic, public falling out with Elon Musk, whose role within the government ended just over a week ago.
Johnson said he still has not spoken with Musk since he took to his social media platform to blast Trump’s legislative priority that Republicans are trying to pass through Congress, but they have exchanged text messages.
“The president used the word ‘disappointing.’ I think that’s right. We were disappointed, surprised,” he said.
“Look, Elon’s number one responsibility is to save his company. The president and I have the responsibility to save this country, and that’s what this bill does. And we’re really excited and proud of this product,” he added.
Asked what his text messages with Musk said, Johnson said Musk expressed concerns about spending.
“And I said, ‘Elon, the spending categories in this bill are in two limited areas — the border, which we promised the American people we would do, and its defense,” he said. “Everything else in the bill is about historic savings and tax cuts.”
In response to Musk’s suggestion for people to call their members of Congress to “kill in the bill,” Johnson said, “We’ve got almost no calls to the offices.”
“Look, I didn’t go out to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest man in the world. What we’re trying to do is help hard-working Americans who are trying to provide for their families to make ends meet.”
Johnson sidestepped a question on whether Trump should move forward with cutting Musk’s government contracts.
“I am not going to get into the strategy of what happens with all of that,” he said.
The speaker said he hopes the feud will “resolve” and said, “I’m going to continue to try to be a peacemaker in all of this.”
Johnson added that he thinks it “would be a big mistake” for Musk to go after Republicans who support the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“I think Elon knows, at the end of the day, the reason he got involved to help President Trump win and to help Republicans win the majority in the House and the Senate is because he understands that our policies are better for human flourishing, they’re better for the U.S. economy, they’re better for everything that he’s involved in,” Johnson said. “I think when the emotion settles down, I think he’ll recognize we have no choice. We have to hold the House majority in the 2026 mid-term election, and we will because we’ve got to allow President Trump four full years, not just two.”
