The Trump administration is releasing thousands of California National Guard troops from a federal mission in Los Angeles, the Pentagon said Tuesday, over a month after President Trump deployed the troops — over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections — to respond to protests in the nation’s second largest city.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Around 2,000 Guard troops will be released, Parnell said, or half of the roughly 4,000 who were brought under federal control. About 700 active-duty Marines were also sent to the Los Angeles area last month, part of an effort to protect federal immigration agents.
Separately, around 150 Guard members were returned to the state of California earlier this month to help fight wildfires.
In response to Tuesday’s decision, Newsom called on the Trump administration to also return the remaining Guard forces.
“For more than a month, the National Guard has been pulled away from their families, communities and civilian work to serve as political pawns for the President in Los Angeles. While nearly 2,000 of them are starting to demobilize, the remaining guardsmembers continue without a mission, without direction and without any hopes of returning to help their communities,” Newsom said in a statement.
The Trump administration argued the deployment was needed to deal with chaotic protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. But Newsom and other local politicians called the deployment unnecessary and warned it could escalate tensions.
The federal government also accused local law enforcement of not doing enough to protect ICE, which local officials denied.
Mr. Trump took the forces under federal control in early June, following protests against ICE action in Los Angeles. The president said the 60-day mission was intended to quell “violence and disorder” and help protect ICE agents and federal property. He invoked a law known as Title 10, which says the president can call Guard troops into federal service to deal with a “rebellion” or if “the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
Newsom sued the Trump administration, calling the deployment an “unprecedented power grab” and arguing it was illegal for Mr. Trump to federalize the Guard without his permission. A federal judge initially sided with Newsom, but an appellate court ultimately allowed Mr. Trump to keep the troops in Los Angeles while the legal battle played out, saying the president likely acted within his authority.
During a visit to Los Angeles late last month, Vice President JD Vance called the Guard forces and Marines “very much a necessary part of what’s going on here,” though he noted the situation in the city had “gotten a lot better.”
The vice president also suggested Mr. Trump is willing to send Guard forces to other locales in the U.S. — but the administration would try not to do so.
“If you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we’re not going to send in the National Guard because it’s unnecessary,” the vice president said.
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