Overview

• President Trump placed the California National Guard under federal control following violent protests in Los Angeles that saw bricks hurled at officers, vehicles set ablaze and Molotov cocktails deployed.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the deployment on CBS’s Face the Nation, blaming Democratic leadership for failing to restore order.
• Governor Gavin Newsom responded that state forces, including the California Highway Patrol, already had the situation in hand and labeled the federal intervention a political spectacle.
• Noem’s support for federalizing the Guard marks a reversal from her time as South Dakota governor, when she warned that removing state troops would violate states’ rights.
• The showdown underscores mounting disputes over federal authority and state autonomy amid the Trump administration’s tough stance on public safety and immigration enforcement.