In a major victory for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court has upheld President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize thousands of National Guard troops and deploy them to Los Angeles, where over a week of rioting led to widespread property damage, assaults on police, and the death of one individual.
The ruling, issued late Thursday, allows Trump to maintain control over roughly 4,000 members of the California National Guard activated to help restore order. Governor Gavin Newsom, who had filed a lawsuit to retain authority over the troops, condemned the decision and accused the president of acting “unlawfully.”
However, a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Newsom’s argument, ruling that President Trump acted within his legal authority in directing the deployment of the troops.
While U.S. presidents do not have unlimited authority to deploy military forces within the country, the court found that administration officials had provided sufficient evidence to justify the move in this instance, pointing to the actions of violent protesters as a compelling reason.
“The undisputed facts demonstrate that before the deployment of the National Guard, protesters ‘pinned down’ several federal officers and threw ‘concrete chunks, bottles of liquid, and other objects’ at the officers. Protesters also damaged federal buildings and caused the closure of at least one federal building. And a federal van was attacked by protesters who smashed in the van’s windows,” the court wrote, according to the AP. “The federal government’s interest in preventing incidents like these is significant.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump hailed the ruling as a “BIG WIN.” “[A]ll over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done,” he wrote.
Newsom, meanwhile, tried to spin the ruling as a partial victory. “The court rightly rejected Trump’s claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court,” Newsom said. “The President is not a king and is not above the law. We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.”
