Trump Threatens Insurrection Act Over Immigration Protests
Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act Amid LA Protests Over Immigration Raids
U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he may invoke the Insurrection Act in response to escalating protests in Los Angeles sparked by recent immigration raids conducted by federal agents.
Speaking from the Oval Office during an unscheduled press briefing with members of his administration, Trump defended the deployment of 700 U.S. Marines and additional National Guard troops to the city.
He dismissed criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who argued that the presence of military forces had only intensified the unrest.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke [the Insurrection Act]. We’ll see.
But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,” Trump stated.
“If we didn’t send in the National Guard quickly, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground.”
Trump also issued a broader warning to other states, particularly those governed by Democrats, indicating that similar measures could be taken elsewhere if unrest continues.
“Let this serve as a message to the rest of the country: if protests like this break out elsewhere, they will be met with equal or even greater force,” he said.
“This might be the first of many, or perhaps if we hadn’t acted decisively here, we’d be seeing this kind of chaos all over the country.”
The president is now authorizing an additional deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and reaffirming the presence of the 700 Marines already in Los Angeles.
Trump also condemned footage circulating online that appeared to show protesters clashing with police during demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations targeting undocumented immigrants.
“What we saw on the streets — people fighting police officers, resisting federal law — is unacceptable. This isn’t about peaceful protest. It’s about law and order,” he said.
Critics argue that the president is leveraging the unrest to assert federal power in Democrat-led states, while civil liberties advocates warn that invoking the Insurrection Act could dangerously escalate tensions and undermine constitutional rights.
Trump Threatens Insurrection Act Over Immigration Protests