Two top Republican Senate leaders on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Los Angeles.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the absence of action by local and state leaders necessitated the move.
“I think the president did what the local officials weren’t doing, which is protecting their citizens,” Thune told reporters Monday afternoon. “This was clearly an incident, multiple incidents, that got out of hand.”
Grassley told reporters that it’s up to Trump to defend federal property and employees, Punchbowl News reported.
Trump called in the National Guard on Saturday, over the objections of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, amid protests over the crackdown of illegal immigration efforts in the Los Angeles area.
Further, the Pentagon on Monday ordered 700 Marines to be deployed to the L.A. area to help guard federal buildings and employees.
The number of National Guard troops is expected to increase to 2,000 later this week.
Trump on Monday called it a “great decision” to send in the troops, saying in a Truth Social post that “if we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
