President Donald Trump said Monday that Los Angeles public officials were “afraid” to act as riots began to spread following a series of Immigration and Enforcement raids last week in the area.
“Some of the things you’re reading about in Los Angeles,” Trump said in his opening remarks at a roundtable with business CEOs at the White House, where they discussed a plan to create a new savings account for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2029, with a one-time deposit of $1,000 from the federal government.
“Thank goodness we sent out some wonderful National Guard,” Trump said in comments that aired live on the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform. “They’ve really helped. A lot of problems that we’re having out there. They were afraid to do anything, and we sent out the troops, and they’ve done a fantastic job. So, I want to thank them very much.”
A day after Trump deployed California’s National Guard to Los Angeles — over the objections of Democrats such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, who have insisted they have the situation in hand, L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell reportedly admitted his officers were “overwhelmed” by the scale of the riots, which have continued for four straight days in response to ICE’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
In September 2020, after the widespread nationwide riots sparked by the death of George Floyd, Trump said at an ABC News town hall, “Look, we have laws. We have to go by the laws. … We can’t call in the National Guard unless we’re requested by a governor.” Trump was asked later in the roundtable why he didn’t consult with Newsom before activating the National Guard troops in this case.
“Well, the biggest change from that statement is we have an incompetent governor, so I talked about governors, but I didn’t talk about he’s an incompetent governor,” Trump said, referring to Newsom. “Look at the job he’s doing in California. He’s destroying one of our great states and if I didn’t get involved, if we didn’t bring the Guard in. And we would bring more in if we needed it because we have to make sure there’s going to be law and order.”
Later in the day, the Pentagon ordered about 700 Marines to be deployed to Los Angeles.
“It’s lucky for the people in Los Angeles and in California that we did what we did,” Trump said. “We got it just in time. It’s still simmering a little bit, but not very much.”
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