Court weighs up use of troops

A California court was to hear arguments yesterday on whether US President Donald Trump must give up control of the state’s National Guard after he sent troops to protest-hit Los Angeles against the wishes of local officials.

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Mr Trump has deployed more than 4,000 guardsmen, as well as 700 Marines, to the second-largest American city, where his immigration crackdown has sparked fierce, mostly peaceful opposition with some violence and vandalism.

In a show of political muscle, Mr Trump ignored the objections of Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom, who would usually oversee the Guard.

A judge said on Thursday that the Republican president’s actions were “illegal” and ordered that he return control of the force to Mr Newsom.

But a higher court paused that ruling until yesterday after the Trump administration lodged an appeal and slammed the judge’s order as an “extraordinary intrusion on the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief.”