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By Cat Zakrzewski, Natalie Allison, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez —
President Donald Trump is prepared to send National Guard troops into more U.S. cities if protests against immigration raids expand beyond Los Angeles, administration officials said Wednesday, potentially opening the door to the most extensive use of military force on American soil in modern history.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in testimony to Congress that the Pentagon has the capability to surge National Guard troops to more cities “if there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned protesters beyond Los Angeles that more “lawlessness” will only increase Trump’s resolve.
“Let this be an unequivocal message to left-wing radicals in other parts of the country who are thinking about copycatting the violence in an effort to stop this administration’s mass deportation efforts,” Leavitt said. “You will not succeed.”
The White House’s message coincides with a rise in bellicose language from Trump, who in recent days has threatened the use of force not only against immigration activists but also against any protesters who attempt to disrupt the military parade scheduled in Washington on Saturday to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary.
The parade, which Trump has wanted for years and will feature tanks, helicopters and Army parachutists, is shaping up to be a symbolic culmination of a dramatic week in which the president not only prepared for a historic deployment of armed forces against domestic adversaries but openly embraced shows of military force. In a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday, the president reveled in the nation’s military power as fort leaders showcased several tactical demonstrations.
“Time and again, our enemies have learned that if you dare to threaten the American people, an American soldier will chase you down, crush you and cast you into oblivion,” Trump said.
In threatening the use of force against protesters, Trump notably did not distinguish between those committing acts of violence and those peacefully protesting against his policies. Leavitt, during the White House briefing on Wednesday, answered a question on the subject by saying that “of course” the president supports the right to peacefully protest and declared the inquiry a “stupid question.”
The administration’s escalating rhetoric has invited comparison to language used by autocrats in foreign countries, where leaders more frequently deploy their military forces within their own borders.
White House officials maintain that the president is showing strength and dominance – and standing up for “law and order” as Democrats go soft on violent agitators. Trump and his advisers have highlighted footage of looting and cars being set ablaze to justify taking action over localofficials’ objections.
“President Trump is fulfilling the promise he made to the American people to deport illegal aliens and protect federal law enforcement from violent riots,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen in democracies, and it’s becoming a routine part of our politics,” said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University, who has long warned that Trump poses a threat to American democracy. (Federal campaign finance records show that a person named Steven Levitsky who works at Harvard has made small campaign donations to Democratic candidates.)
Trump has given himself more flexibility this term to escalate military intervention and to upend democratic norms with fewerconstraints. In his first term, military leaders prevented Trump from deploying troops within the United States. This time, he has surrounded himself with loyalists – though he still could face obstacles in the courts. California has sued to block the administration from deploying troops within its borders.
Protests over the administration’s immigration policies are expanding to more cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. More are scheduled this weekend as part of a national “No Kings Day,” with activists scheduling events in opposition to Trump’s attempts to test his executive power and, protesters say, defy the courts.
Americans are divided in their view on the protesters in Los Angeles and Trump’s decision to send the National Guard to respond, according to a new poll from The Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School. Republicans overwhelmingly favor Trump’s National Guard decision, and most Democrats oppose it, according to the survey. Independents skew toward opposing the action, while a majority of Californians also oppose it.
Amid protests in Chicago, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip, said it would be “a serious decision” for Trump to deploy troops across the country. Durbin said he has not spoken with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) about the possibility of Trump doing so in their state.
Durbin said Trump is treating the deployment of National Guard troops “as this routine decision.”
“It is not routine, using our military force to enforce criminal laws in our country,” he said.
This week, Trump warned that any protests against immigration raids in other cities will be “met with equal or greater force” than that used in Los Angeles. He said those troops would remain in the city “until there’s no danger,” providing only a subjective timeline for their deployment.
Trump and California leaders have sparred over whether the troops were ever a necessary response to the protests, which have been confined to several blocks and haveincluded sporadic episodes of violence.
He said he “would certainly” invoke the Insurrection Act, which can be used by presidents to expand the role of the military in responding to domestic incidents, if he viewed it as necessary.
The fact that he is even considering it is an ominous sign, several scholars said.
“In a democratic society, citizens don’t have to think twice or think three times about peaceful expressions of opposition – that’s what life is like in a free society,” Levitsky said. “In an authoritarian regime, citizens have to think twice about speaking out, because there is risk of government retribution. Maybe you’ll be arrested, maybe you’ll be investigated, maybe you’ll have an IRS audit, maybe you’ll have a lawsuit.”
The showdown over the military intervention has intensified since Saturday, when Trump deployed the National Guard to California without the permission of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who believed sending troops would escalate the protests.
Newsom warned in a speech Tuesday that the deployment marked the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to threaten democracy.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” Newsom said. “Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”
Also Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced he was deploying his state’s National Guard ahead of planned protests. An Abbott adviser said the decision did not result from Trump’s rhetoric.The governor has previously deployed Guard troops ahead of protests, such as during George Floyd demonstrations in 2020.
“This is not a frivolous thing. This is not a political thing,” said Dave Carney, a longtime political adviser to Abbott. “If this was happening four years ago or eight years ago, he would have done the exact same thing. This is instinctively protecting people.”
Carney said he suspects Republican governors will call up National Guard members onlyif they have “good intelligence of what’s being planned.”
In other Republican-run states with recent clashes with ICE – either through protests or Democratic-leaning cities pushing back on enforcement – governors have resisted announcing proactive deployments, despite GOP officials vowing to punish violent agitators.
In Atlanta, where authorities used tear gas and made arrests Tuesday as anti-ICE protesters threw fireworks at police, state officials believe local and state law enforcement have been able to manage the demonstrations, according to a person with knowledge of the situation there who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about plans. Likewise in Nashville, where Department of Homeland Security officials have clashed with the mayor of the heavily Democratic city, large protests have not materialized, and the Republican governor has not announced any military deployment.
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Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.
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