President Trump said early Monday that Los Angeles is “looking really bad” as he made a call to “bring in the troops.”
“Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social platform, Truth Social, shortly after midnight.
Trump has said he has deployed more than 2,000 members of the National Guard, 300 of whom were already present on the ground in Los Angeles by midday on Sunday.
The federalizing of the California National Guard is a rare and legally murky move that bypassed the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who said Sunday evening that he plans to bring a lawsuit against the Trump administration for going around him.
The National Guard is relatively limited in its scope, since members are deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, which includes the downtown Los Angeles detention center where much of the unrest centered.
Tensions rose over the weekend in the city as protesters clashed with police, who made dozens of arrests as they sought to quell demonstrations.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were “overwhelmed” by the remaining protesters, The Associated Press reported.
Trump appeared to address those remarks in comments on his social media platform early Monday.
“Jim McDonnell, the highly respected LAPD Chief, just stated that the protesters are getting very much more aggressive, and that he would ‘have to reassess the situation,’ as it pertains to bringing in the troops,” Trump wrote shortly after midnight on Monday.
“He should, RIGHT NOW!!! Don’t let these thugs get away with this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he continued.
Trump also called for the arrests of protesters wearing masks.
“ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!” Trump added on Truth Social.
While speaking to reporters during a gaggle before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Trump would not rule out invoking the Insurrection Act, which could allow the military to be deployed domestically.
But he suggested the protests against immigration raids were not yet an insurrection.
“We’re going up to Camp David; we have meetings with various people about very major subjects,” Trump said.
“We’ll be meeting with a lot of people, including generals, as you know, and admirals.”
Trump wouldn’t say what the meetings would be about or whether any foreign officials would be joining.
Shortly after the remarks, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social saying that “violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations.”
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